A man was arrested Wednesday night after assaulting people at Franklin Towers while carrying a machete, police said.
Ahmed Ismail, who is 38 and currently homeless, was charged with assault, criminal threatening and violating conditions of release, police said.
Portland police were called to Franklin Towers on Cumberland Avenue just after 9 p.m. Wednesday after someone reported the assaults. A spokesperson for the department said Ismail was not assaulting people with the machete.
Ismail was arrested and taken to the Cumberland County Jail, where he was also charged with drug possession.
Brian Frost, executive director of the Portland Housing Authority, which owns the Franklin Towers, said Ismail was a guest of a resident and had no previous incidents in the building that involved management. Ismail came into the building the “correct way,” either with the resident he was visiting or by being buzzed in through the locked doors by the resident, he said.
“The residents do an awfully good job at policing themselves and their neighbors because they understand not everyone coming into the property has the best intentions,” Frost said.
Frost said the housing authority will work with its attorney to seek an order preventing Ismail from returning to the property.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (207) 874-8575 or text “PPDME” to 847411.
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