RUMFORD – A 26-year-old Rumford man was arraigned Tuesday on an attempted murder charge in connection with a stabbing Monday night.

The incident marks the fifth stabbing in the Rumford area in as many months. It is the third such incident that has resulted in an attempted murder charge.

Alvah Burton Pike IV of 26 Spruce St. was also charged with elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault in the stabbing of 28-year-old Joshua Lee Mayo of Oxford Avenue.

Pike also was charged with violating conditions of his release.

Rumford police Sgt. James J. Bernard said in an affidavit that Pike, Mayo and another man went to the Far East restaurant in Mexico and had a few drinks Monday night. Mayo, he said, told him he and Pike got into an argument on the way to Mayo’s apartment later, but he was not sure what prompted the argument.

As he was about to enter his apartment, Pike started to drag him back down the stairs and stabbed him multiple times with a switchblade knife, shouting that he would kill him, Bernard said Mayo told him.

Mayo ran to a neighbor’s house after the 7:45 p.m. attack and yelled for someone to call an ambulance. Med-Care Ambulance took him to Rumford Hospital, and he was later taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, the officer said in his statement.

“He was severely bleeding when we got there,” Sgt. David Bean said Tuesday afternoon.

Mayo told Bernard at Rumford Hospital that he tried to get away from Pike by kicking him.

“I thought he was going to kill me. He was going to kill me,” Mayo is quoted in the affidavit.

Bean said Mayo was listed in stable condition Monday night and he released on Tuesday.

Bernard said that Mayo suffered a cut to his right arm that went to the bone, a large laceration to his chest, and a puncture wound in his lower back.

The man who took the pair to supper Monday night said they started arguing on the way back from the restaurant and he separated them. He said the two shook hands and were speaking in a civil manner before the stabbing occurred, according to the affidavit.

Bernard reported the man was reluctant to make a written statement against Pike for fear of possible retaliation.

Pike fled the scene and was apprehended at 10:45 p.m. at a North Street apartment in Dixfield. Bernard said he and Chief Stacy Carter were armed with a Taser gun and firearms when Pike gave himself up without incident.

Pike said he had a dislocated shoulder and was acting in self-defense, Bernard stated.

Police confiscated a bloodstained sweatshirt and Pike’s blue jeans, which had blood spattered on them. Bernard said police were unable to locate a knife, which Mayo described as an illegal switchblade-type knife with a blade that pops out of the handle. He said it was a double-edged silver blade with a black handle.

Pike was convicted of illegal possession of a scheduled drug in 1999, assault in 2000 and 2004, operating under the influence in 2001 and March of this year, and aggravated assault in 2006.

Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor, speaking at Pike’s arraignment in South Paris District Court on Tuesday, said Pike had served one year in prison for aggravated assault because he sicced a pit bull on a person.

“We frankly, your honor, feel he is a dangerous individual,” O’Connor said. O’Connor recommended $100,000 cash or $500,000 surety bail.

Defense attorney Maurice Porter said Pike was distressed over being separated from his children and recommended a cash bail in the $10,000 range or a $50,000 surety.

Judge Valerie Stanfill set bail at $25,000 cash or $250,000 worth of real estate. If released, Pike will be forbidden from using or possessing alcohol, illegal drugs or firearms. Pike may have no direct contact with witnesses, though he may have indirect contact with Mayo and a witness at his place of employment.

Staff writer Terry Karkos contributed to this report.