A Somerset County Jail corrections officer is free on bail following his arrest and court appearance last week on a charge of domestic violence assault for allegedly putting his girlfriend in a choke hold after she reportedly caught him in bed with another woman.
Jeremy A.E. Carr, 33, of Skowhegan, has been placed on administrative leave without pay from his job at the jail in East Madison pending the results of an internal investigation, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said. He had been employed there for about four months as Somerset, like Franklin County, faces staffing shortages.
Skowhegan Police Chief David Bucknam said Sgt. Brian Gardiner responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at Indian Ridge Apartments off West Front Street at about 9:20 p.m. Oct. 15.
“It was reported 33-year-old Jeremy Carr had choked his girlfriend … from behind and pulled her to the ground, ” Bucknam said. The Morning Sentinel does not publish the names of alleged domestic violence victims.
Bucknam said the alleged victim found a 31-year-old woman in Carr’s bed when she entered the bedroom.
The woman allegedly yelled at Carr and the other woman, and Carr grabbed her from behind and “put her in a choke hold, effectively cutting off her ability to breath,” Bucknam said. The woman told police that Carr is into mixed martial arts and is a fighter.
“She received injuries from both the choke hold and falling to the ground and was treated at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan,” he said.
After conducting interviews with all parties involved, Gardiner arrested Carr, “as he was the dominant aggressor from the incident,” Bucknam said.
Carr was taken to the Somerset County Jail for processing, then later transferred to the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington, Lancaster said. Carr later was transferred to Kennebec County because Kennebec and Somerset counties share a district attorney, Maeghan Maloney.
Maloney said her office charged Carr with domestic violence assault, a class D misdemeanor, based on the probable cause affidavit drawn up by Skowhegan police.
“Once we receive the full report, we will determine whether additional charges are warranted,” she said.
Carr was seen by a judge at in-custody arraignments in Augusta on Oct. 17, where he pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $500 unsecured, with conditions that he not use or possess dangerous weapons or firearms and has no contact with the victim. His dispositional conference date is set for Jan. 30, 2019.
Maloney said Carr has no prior domestic violence charges or convictions and scores low on the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment process, used to determine if someone is safe to be out on bail.
The Ontario approach is a danger assessment tool that helps to determine the level of risk an abused woman has of being killed by her intimate partner, according to the website www.dangerassessment.org. It’s been adopted by the Maine Legislature as an evidential measure for future behavior.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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