BANGOR — A local transient charged early Christmas morning with aggravated assault after police say he stabbed a Brewer woman in the wrist had his bail set at $10,000 Friday by District Court Judge Bruce Jordan.

“He can’t come up with anywhere near that amount,” Ben Fowler, lawyer for the day, said of Steven Mathis, 25, who is facing elevated aggravated assault and felony domestic violence assault charges.

Brewer police went to Washington Street about 3:20 a.m. on Christmas and met with a 32-year-old woman with a bleeding wrist.

She told investigators that “her on-and-off boyfriend for the last two years, Steven Mathis, had [broken] a knife and then stabbed her in the wrist with it after an argument,” the affidavit states. “She also states that before he left he got into her purse and took money, her keys and cellphone.”

She refused medical services at first, but eventually went to an area hospital and received two stitches to stop the bleeding, the court document states.

Mathis was found in the bathroom at the Bangor Area Recovery Network’s headquarters on Center Street.

“Steven claimed that [the woman] stabbed herself and he aided her [in treating the] cuts,” the affidavit states. “He admitted to breaking a knife after he took it from her. He also said he did take $40 from her purse because he was mad prior to leaving.”

Brandon Trainor, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, asked for the $10,000 bail based on Mathis’ prior domestic violence assault conviction in Belfast in May. That conviction resulted in a sentence of 60 days behind bars, he said.

Mathis, who was not asked to submit a plea because the felony case against him has not gone before the Penobscot County grand jury, says he is innocent of the charges, Fowler told the judge.

“I reviewed the probable cause affidavit and I do find there is probable cause to proceed with the proceedings,” Jordan said. “This is punishable by up to 10 years of incarceration. These are very serious allegations.”

In addition to bail, Jordan barred Mathis from contacting the 32-year-old victim and from possessing any dangerous weapons, alcohol or illegal drugs, and ordered that he submit to random searches and testing.

“The matter will be reviewable,” the judge said, referring to the bail conditions.

In addition to the two felony charges, Mathis also faces a misdemeanor theft charge for taking money from the woman’s purse. A dispositional conference is scheduled for Feb. 11 and a March trial is planned.

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