Police search a suspect Tuesday night next to a police cruiser at Food City Plaza on Lisbon Street in Lisbon. The person was detained in connection with a stabbing. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LISBON — An 18-year-old local man involved in stealing a bucket loader in 2016 and driving it down the turnpike was charged Wednesday with stabbing of a 17-year-old boy from Lisbon, police said.

Matthew Newton-Fortin Androscoggin County Jail

Matthew Newton-Fortin, who is facing a charge of elevated aggravated assault, was taken by Lisbon police to Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday and was being held in lieu of $25,000 cash bail. The charge is a felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Police responded about 8 p.m. Tuesday to Beech Street for a report of an injured 17-year-old who had been assaulted, according to a news statement issued by Police Chief Ryan A. McGee.

Officers found the boy in medical distress, McGee said, and he was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for evaluation and treatment of his injuries. After being stabilized, he was transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland. His condition was not available Wednesday evening.

Local police organized a search of the area with assistance from Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Maine State Police troopers and Topsham Police officers in an effort to locate any evidence or persons of interest, McGee said.

The nature of the assault prompted local police to summon the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit-South. Detectives from that unit worked with local police into the late evening completing witness interviews and working to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding this event, McGee said.

Newton-Fortin appeared Wednesday afternoon in 8th District Court in Lewiston via videoconference from the jail. A judge appointed a lawyer to represent him and raised his cash bail to $75,000.

His attorney will have a chance to argue for lower bail at a later date, Judge Brent Davis said. In the meantime, Newton-Fortin’s conditions include no contact with the victim and no possession of dangerous weapons for which he can be searched at random.

Davis said he believed there was probable cause supporting the charge based on a police affidavit, which he impounded at the request of prosecutors, who said the investigation was in the early stages. The judge also ordered a mental evaluation to determine the competency of Newton-Fortin.

In 2016, Newton-Fortin and another 14-year-old boy ran away from a juvenile group home in Litchfield, commandeered a bucket loader and drove it through several towns, leaving a trail of wreckage in their wake.

They were later charged with more than a dozen related crimes.

Newton-Fortin of Auburn eventually admitted to several felonies, including attempted elevated aggravated assault and aggravated criminal mischief.

He was ordered to remain at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland until his 16th birthday.

A suspect sits in a police cruiser, far left, Tuesday night at Food City Plaza on Lisbon Street in Lisbon. Police detained the person in  connection with a stabbing earlier on Beech Street. Cruisers from Lisbon, Maine State Police and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office converged at the scene. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal