A Superior Court judge Wednesday set bail at $75,000 cash for a former Brewer man accused of trying to kill, kidnap and beat his former girlfriend over their 2½-year-long relationship.
Brandon Rego, 32, of Palmyra made his first court appearance before Superior Court Justice Ann Murray remotely from Penobscot County Jail. Somerset County Sheriff’s Office arrested him Wednesday morning at the request of Brewer police.
Rego is charged with: attempted murder and kidnapping, both Class A crimes; two counts of aggravated assault, Class B crimes; domestic violence reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, all Class C crimes; two counts of domestic violence assault and domestic violence terrorizing, all Class D crimes.
Murray did not ask him to enter pleas to the charges because he has not yet been indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury.
Chelsea Lynds, an assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, told the judge that the victim, who lives in Brewer, recently told police of the ongoing and escalating abuse she allegedly had suffered at the hands of the defendant after the two began dating in the summer of 2021.
That fall, Rego became more and more controlling, checking the victim’s phone and demanding to know who she was spending time with, Lynds said. By November 2021, a pattern of physical abuse allegedly began.
In November 2022, Rego awoke the victim in the middle of the night by slapping her in the face because she’d confided to family members about the abuse, Lynds said. He allegedly retrieved a gun from under the bed and struck her in the head with it and threatened to kill the victim and her son and to have the police kill him. Rego fired a gun into the ceiling and police recovered the slug, according to the prosecutor.
The most recent incident of domestic violence took place in January after Rego discovered the victim had allegedly told a caseworker with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services about the abuse, Lynds told the judge.
Rego allegedly held a gun to the victim’s head and forced her to take pills in an attempt to get her to overdose. The prosecutor did not say what kind of pills the victim, who managed to hide some of them in a couch, swallowed.
Lynds requested Murray set bail at $100,000 cash because Rego “is a threat to her, he’s a threat to the community and he’s a flight risk.” Rego has ties to Fall River, Massachusetts, she said.
Rego, through Shamara Bailey, who acted as his attorney Wednesday, denied the allegations. He said he could post $5,000 cash bail but needed to be released to continue working as a carpenter.
Murray allowed Rego to seek a lower bail once his attorney has reviewed his case. Bail conditions include no contact with the victim or her family, no possession of dangerous weapons, no use of intoxicants and periodic search and testing for them.
Rego is next due in court on June 6.
If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 on the Class A charges, up 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 on the Class B charges, up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on the Class C charges and up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the Class D charges.
