PORTLAND – A Sebago man who was hit with a Taser during an incident with Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies no longer faces criminal charges.

Victor Berge, 48, was arrested on charges of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence terrorizing and refusing to submit to arrest and detention. Those charges have been dismissed. Tamara Getchell, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, said she could not say why the case isn’t being pursued.

A clerical error in his case prevented Berge from seeing his wife in the hospital for several hours before her death.

Lori Berge, 47, died May 28 in a choking incident. The death was accidental and caused by asphyxia from a foreign body obstructing the airway, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Victor Berge said she had choked while eating.

The conditions of Berge’s bail prohibited him from having contact with his wife. Normally, the conditions would end if no charges were filed by the arraignment date. In Berge’s case, the clerk in Bridgton District Court mailed the case to Portland instead of releasing the conditions, said Bruce Merrill, Berge’s lawyer.

So the no-contact provision remained when Lori Berge was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on May 26, and Bridgton police called the hospital to say Berge was not allowed to see his wife, Merrill said.

The District Attorney’s Office dismissed the bail conditions that day, after the paperwork arrived in the afternoon mail, Merrill said.

The incident that led to Berge’s arrest occurred at his home on May 4, after his wife called 911. Authorities and Berge gave dramatically different accounts of what happened next.

The sheriff’s office said deputies were responding to a 911 hang-up call from Berge’s home and learned on the way that Lori Berge had reported that her husband was intoxicated and threatening suicide, and had fired a gun inside.

A deputy used his Taser to stun Berge after he refused to submit to arrest and became increasingly aggressive.

Berge has said he accidentally fired a weapon while putting it away and had his wife call police to explain. He has said the 911 operator told him to go outside to speak to deputies.

Berge, who said he suffers from hearing loss, said he didn’t see or hear the deputies. He said a light was suddenly shining in his face, and he was hit with the Taser.

Berge said this week that he may have been suffering side effects of yellow-fever and malaria shots he had earlier that day.

Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:

akim@pressherald.com