AUGUSTA — A Fayette man accused of shooting a firearm into a neighbor’s farmstand pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor counts Wednesday.

Matthew Brigham

Matthew Brigham, 31, is charged with reckless conduct, criminal mischief and discharge of a firearm near a dwelling.

Brigham was arrested Tuesday by Maine State Police Trooper Travis Luce after several neighbors reported seeing a man with a gun and hearing several gunshots a day earlier.

Luce said in an affidavit that a Fellows Farm Road resident watched Brigham fire his gun into the air several times, then shoot into a nearby farmstand and finally fire a shot into the ground.

Luce’s affidavit said Brigham left after the neighbor grabbed his own .22-caliber rifle, confronted Brigham and ordered him to leave.

Another neighbor said Brigham previously had threatened people with a gun. She told the trooper that she found two of her turkeys injured. In an interview with Luce, Brigham denied shooting the turkeys.

Brigham’s weapons were confiscated. He told Luce that he had fired his .20-gauge shotgun into the air to scare a rabid raccoon, and then retrieved his .22-caliber rifle from the car and “fired five or six times at random,” according to the affidavit.

Justice Donald Marden set Brigham’s bail at $500 cash with conditions that he have no contact with the neighbors identified as victims and he was prohibited from possessing firearms. Brigham was released on bail and his case is set for a dispositional conference Nov. 14.


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