Illinois man indicted in two criminal cases stemming from alleged assault on his wife in Farmington

FARMINGTON — An Illinois man has been indicted on charges related to two cases including aggravated assault and attempting to elude police in seven towns on Oct. 23, 2023.

Cesar Vergara Franklin County Detention Center photo

Cesar J. Vergara, 28, of Cicero, Illinois, was indicted Jan. 11 by a Franklin County grand jury on charges of felony domestic violence aggravated assault, and felony and misdemeanor charges of domestic violence assault and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a report of crime or injury. The charges stem from an incident at Farmington Motel in Farmington.

He was also indicted in a second case on a felony charge of eluding an officer, driving to endanger and failure to stop for a police officer.

Both incidents occurred Oct. 23, 2023. Since his arrest, he has been held at the Franklin County Detention Center on $15,000 cash bail, or $5,000 cash plus a supervised release agreement.

Vergara is accused of attempting to strangle his wife and taking her phone so she couldn’t call police at the motel at 489 Farmington Falls Road.

According to Farmington officer Ryan Rosie’s probable cause affidavit, he received a call about a disturbance in which two people were yelling at each other in a room at the Farmington Motel.

When Rosie arrived at the motel, a group of people indicated that the suspect had driven away down a nearby the road.

Prior to police arriving at the motel, an employee told Rosie that when the motel room door opened the employee ran inside to find a man, later identified as Vergara, on top of the woman holding her down on the bed. The employee later explained to Rosie that she jumped on top of Vergara and pulled him off the woman onto the floor, breaking the night stand.

Rosie radioed dispatch with the vehicle description with Illinois registration, which Franklin County Sgt. Brandon Sholan saw on Wilton Road and started pursuing. Vergara continued to drive and went through seven towns as police attempted to stop him. The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office put down spike mats on state Route 4 and it appeared Vergara intentionally struck a utility pole in front of an automobile dealership, police previously said.

When Rosie asked the woman if this had happened before, she said Vergara broke her arm in 2022.

She told the court at Vergara’s bail hearing in October that the incident at the motel didn’t happen the way people said. At that hearing, she and her husband asked for contact but were denied by the judge.

A conviction on the aggravated assault charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and the obstruction charge is punishable by up to 364 days in jail. Convictions on the other charges range from six months in jail to five years in prison.