JAY – A local man has been charged with aggravated assault and criminal threatening charges after reportedly sending a woman to the hospital.
David Belanger, 53, of Jay, was arrested Tuesday evening after turning himself in to police following a multi-department search. He has been charged with aggravated assault, a Class B felony, domestic criminal threatening with a weapon, a Class C felony, and obstructing the report of a crime, a misdemeanor.
According to Jay Police Department Chief Larry White Sr., his department received a report of a violent incident at Belanger’s residence on Franklin Road at 4:56 p.m. Tuesday. The report apparently indicated that a firearm had been involved, and Sgt. Troy Young responded with back up from the Livermore Falls Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
The report claimed that Belanger had assaulted a woman at his residence then threatened her with a firearm. Police say that he pulled the telephone off the wall and fled the house in his vehicle. Believing that Belanger could still be armed, officers from all three law enforcement agencies began to search the Franklin Road area. The woman was interviewed briefly at the scene and then transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital.
Police continued to search, calling in off-duty officers to assist. White and Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Nate Bean searched another residence on the Franklin Road, which they believed to be owned by one of Belanger’s friends, but found it empty. However, a few minutes later, that friend called the dispatch center in Farmington stating he was with Belanger.
The friend said that Belanger was not in possession of a firearm, and that he wanted to turn himself in to the police. Jay Police Department’s Officer Nick Gulliver took Belanger into custody in the police station/municipal building parking lot at about 5:40 p.m. Belanger was transported to the Franklin County Detention Center.
White said that Belanger’s residence was being processed for evidence, with several firearms secured.
