Jay man charged in domestic-violence assault case

JAY — Police responded to a disturbance at 2 Barker St. late Sunday, where they found a woman with a severe head wound and covered in blood, Police Chief Richard Caton IV said.

Police say Ronald E. Tarckini, 65, of Jay had hit his girlfriend over the head with a cane.

Tarckini is charged on a Class B charge of aggravated assault and a Class D charge of refusing to submit to arrest or detention.

A conviction on a Class B charge is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, while a Class D charge carries up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Jay Police officer Dylan Rider and Livermore Falls Police Sgt. Vernon Stevens responded to the Barker Street residence about 11:30 p.m. for a report of a woman with a head laceration. The victim was taken by a NorthStar EMS ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.

According to Rider’s report filed at District Court in Farmington, the victim “was covered in her own blood from the top of her head to her feet” when he arrived at the house.

Police said Tarckini lived with the victim and her aunt.

After checking bedrooms, police came across one with a locked door that had blood on the doorknob. Rider wrote that he knocked on the door and announced his identity several times but that no one replied.

Rider said the last time he knocked, he called for Tarckini to come out of the room. When he did not come out, Rider kicked in the door.

He could see Tarckini lying on a twin size bed with his back to the door. He was wearing slippers and a bathrobe over his clothes, Rider wrote. He could not see his hands.

Tarckini eventually spoke and told Rider, “I have a rocket launcher,” Rider wrote.

Rider and Stevens gave him instructions to put his hands behind his back but Tarckini refused and kept trying to place his hands in front of him, according to Rider.

He wrote that there was a brief struggle to attempt to gain control of Tarckini’s hands and Tarckini attempted to reach under the bed with his left hand.

“Unknown at the time, I believed Ronald was attempting to reach for a possible weapon,” Rider wrote. “The situation was intense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.”

Eventually police were able to handcuff Tarckini. During questioning, Tarckini told police he and the alleged victim had had an argument but that he did not know what happened to her.

Tarckini was taken to Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington after FMH staff cleared him of any injuries, Rider wrote.

Tarckini appeared before Judge Charles Dow on Tuesday via televideo from the jail to District Court in Farmington. Bail was set at $1,000 cash or property valued at at least $10,000. Tarckini has been prohibited from having contact with the victim, having dangerous weapons or possessing or consuming alcohol or illegal drugs.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net