PORTLAND, Maine — Police arrested and charged a prominent Maine concert promoter with domestic violence earlier this week.

Alexander Gray, the head of Waterfront Concerts and driving force behind concert series in Portland and Bangor, was detained on Sunday by police in Old Town and charged by Portland police with aggravated assault, a felony. The district attorney’s office later amended the charge to domestic violence assault, a misdemeanor, Portland police said.





Around 1:20 a.m. Sunday, Gray allegedly attacked his girlfriend of five years following an argument in which she tried to leave Gray’s Portland condominium where she lived for years, according to court documents.

After spending the night drinking with friends, Gray, 41, demanded the keys to the condo back from his girlfriend, who is 32 and is not being named by the BDN because she is the victim of alleged domestic abuse. When she refused, the concert promoter became violent, a report by a Portland police officer states.

After pulling at his girlfriend’s purse, Gray kicked her legs out from underneath her, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head into the hardwood floor five to 10 times, the report states.

Each time her head hit the ground her vision turned momentarily white and at some point she passed out, the girlfriend told police. “Why are you doing this,” she reportedly shouted at Gray.

The girlfriend was taken to Maine Medical Center and paramedics suspected her jaw may have been fractured, the police report states. Two of her friends who were standing outside the condo did not witness the incident but said they heard yelling, according to the report. The police report includes photographs of red marks on the woman’s chest, back and leg and two other photographs of her face that do not show marks.

Following the incident, Gray drove to Old Town where he was later arrested. Old Town police turned Gray over to Portland authorities in Augusta, according to the court documents. In Portland, Gray initially wanted to “tell his story,” but declined to give an interview after he was told he would be read his Miranda rights, the report stated.

Gray was released on a $750 bail bond on the condition that he not contact the woman he allegedly assaulted.

Two calls to the phone number listed for Gray on the police report were not answered and a message was not returned. An employee of Waterfront Concerts who refused to give his name said that Gray is not presently in the state and would not be available to speak for more than a week. Another employee said that she did not know of a lawyer for Gray and could not provide another way to reach him.

Waterfront Concerts, of which Gray is the founder and principal, contracts with Portland and Bangor to put on shows at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion, the Maine State Pier and other venues in the state. Bangor is in negotiations with the company over a new contract for concerts there.

Tanya Emery, Bangor’s director of Community and Economic Development, said it was premature to comment on whether the incident would have any effect on the city’s relationship with the company, and noted that the contract is with Waterfront Concerts, not Gray.

A Portland spokeswoman said that Gray reached out to the city about the incident and that “at this point, these are just charges and he should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.”

BDN writer Danielle McLean contributed to this report.