RUMFORD – A Rumford man was charged Tuesday night with stabbing a 16-year-old boy in the arm with a knife after a verbal argument, police Sgt. James Bernard said Wednesday.

The cut on the Rumford teen’s left arm was deep enough to cause possible bone damage, according to the police report, Bernard said. The youth was treated at Rumford Community Hospital and released Tuesday night, he said.

Thomas O. Culver, 31, was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon shortly after the stabbing.

Culver made an initial appearance before a judge Wednesday in Paris District Court and had bail set at $5,000 cash or $25,000 worth of property, an Oxford County Jail intake worker said.

Bernard said Rumford police Sgt. David Bean and officer Donald Miller responded to a report of a stabbing on Rangeley Place, a road in the downtown area between Falmouth and Cumberland streets, at 10:10 p.m.

When they arrived, Bernard said, they found the victim standing in the street with witnesses with him.

Culver had left the area on foot but was found about 30 minutes later at a nearby apartment, Bernard said. He was arrested without incident.

The victim and Culver were acquainted, Bernard said, and got into an argument that turned physical. The dispute was over a previous assault on a member of the teen’s family earlier in the week, Bernard said.

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