BRISTOL — A Bristol man on Monday pleaded innocent in Addison Superior Court, criminal division, to misdemeanor charges of domestic assault and interfering with access to emergency services, after he allegedly struck a woman several times and then took her cell phone away to prevent her from calling authorities on Nov. 1.
Jason P. Vincent, 30, was lodged on $2,500 bail at the Chittenden County Correctional Center following the alleged incident at a home off Briggs Hill Road.
Vermont State Police Trooper Joseph Szarejko, who investigated the alleged incident, said the case began around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday with a report of a family fight at a home on Shoreham’s Main Street. While heading to that location, Szarejko said he was informed that the occupants had left for another home on Briggs Hill Road in Bristol, according to court records.
A person at the Shoreham home told police that there had been an argument between a couple that ultimately “became physical,” but was broken up, according to Szarejko’s affidavit. A witness at the home reported being concerned because “Vincent was intoxicated” and had allegedly been driving (the victim) and a 5-year-old girl back to Bristol, according to the affidavit.
When state police arrived at the Bristol home, they reported finding the female victim sitting in a driveway.
“She advised that she was assaulted by Vincent and was in a lot of pain and that she was attempting to get away from him,” Szarejko wrote in his affidavit.
The victim said she went to bed shortly after the couple and girl had returned to Bristol, according to court records. She got out of bed later that night after having allegedly declined a sexual advance from Vincent, according to Szarejko’s affidavit.
“(The victim) advised that Vincent continued to annoy her so she got out of bed and that was when Vincent put her in a headlock and threw her down the stairs,” according to Szarejko’s affidavit. “(She) advised that Vincent picked her up and proceeded to throw her at the door, and she ended up on the front lawn.”
The victim reported that Vincent “punched her with a closed fist to the left, back side of her head three times, which caused her great pain, she described the pain as a ‘10,’” according to court records.
Szarejko said the victim was eventually able to get inside the home to retrieve her shoes and jacket, then went back outside. At this point, Vincent allegedly took away her cell phone, according to court records.
Police said the victim sustained “a large bruise on the back of her head, along with bruises and red marks on her right arm and hand.”
The victim told police that the young girl had been in the home and had witnessed the incident, according to court records.
Authorities later interviewed Vincent, who allegedly “admitted to slapping (the victim) on the top of the head and wrestling with her on the ground,” according to court records. But Vincent said he was not responsible for the victim’s bruises, alleging that one of the victim’s family members had been responsible for the marks, according to Szarejko’s affidavit.
“Vincent advised that he was just trying to get (the victim) inside the residence because they were arguing but he did not injure her at all,” Szarejko reported.
Court records show that two days after the alleged incident, the victim contacted state police telling them she had been “just as drunk as (Vincent) was,” and that “she did not want Vincent charged with domestic assault and that she could not be sure that all of her injuries were caused by him,” according to court records. “(The victim) added she was in an altercation earlier in the evening at a family member’s residence.”