AUBURN – A 30-year-old man was hospitalized Thursday after suffering a stab wound in the leg at a home on Highland Avenue.
Police later said Philip Gagne accidentally stabbed himself but tried to blame it on a man with whom he had been arguing. After investigating the matter further, police charged Gagne with filing a false report or alarm, a Class D misdemeanor.
“It was a great team effort,” Auburn police Lt. Scott Watkins said. “The officers, sergeants and detectives did a great job in determining what really occurred.”
Friends of the injured man applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding as rescue crews rushed to 37 Highland Ave. just after 4 p.m.
Gagne lives at that address, police said.
Police said the injury did not appear life-threatening.
Gagne initially declined medical treatment, but he was ultimately taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.
Police interviewed several people who were inside the home at the time of the stabbing. It appeared that Gagne suffered the wound while in the basement of the 2½-story house.
Highland Avenue runs between Court Street and Western Promenade.
Gagne was issued a summons to appear in court.
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