The first super moon of summer 2014 rose on July 13, but in Boothbay Harbor, the lunar effect seems to have been delayed a week.

Overall, Saturday, July 19 was a typical, busy midsummer night for the Boothbay Harbor Police Department. What made it atypical was the need to respond to three suicidal persons over the space of five hours.

Chief Bob Hasch said the first call came in around 6 p.m. and was responded to by Officer Larry Brown. A distraught fully-clothed, elderly woman had jumped into the harbor and had reportedly told witnesses she wanted to kill herself. The woman was returned to dry land without injury and ultimately taken to Mid Coast Hospital, which has a behavioral health unit, by the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service.

While Brown was still responding to the first call, Officer Tom Chryplewicz received a report of a suicidal man in the downtown area. Hasch said Chryplewicz was able to subdue the man, who Hasch said has a history of recent complaints, without incident. He, too, was transported to Mid Coast Hospital.

Around 11 p.m., police responded to a domestic violence report at a residence on Campbell Street, which involved a man allegedly threatening to kill himself with a rifle. According to the affidavit, when police arrived at the scene, Gregory Glidden was outside the residence and unarmed. Glidden was arrested for domestic violence assault and criminal restraint. He was transported to Mid Coast Hospital and then to Two Bridges Regional Jail.

Hasch had no theories for the spate of suicidal persons, but said it was a rare event.

“It’s unusual for us to have three of these in one night, but it’s not unusual for us to deal with people who are desperate or depressed,” Hasch said. “People need to know they can call the police for help in these situations. In any emergency situation, just dial 911.”

Hasch said Boothbay Harbor Police have responded to more domestic violence and suicidal cases this year than usual.

“This year, we have responded to easily double the domestic violence situations that we normally do,” Hasch said.

Kathleen Morgan, executive director, New Hope for Women, corroborated Hasch’s observation regarding domestic violence with some statistics.

“In the first three quarters of this year, we spoke with 14 clients in Boothbay Harbor alone, which is up from 10 in all of fiscal year 2013,” Morgan said. “Last year, in all of Lincoln County we spoke with 187 clients and after the first three quarters of this year we have spoken with 173.”

New Hope for Women provides support to people affected by domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in Lincoln, Sagahadoc, Waldo and Knox Counties and also provides educational resources for communities. Their 24 hour toll-free hot line is 1-800-522-3304. For more information, visit www.newhopeforwomen.org.