FARMINGTON — An Industry man allegedly hit a 1-year-old boy in the face while the child’s mother was in a store on Sunday, according to police.

When she returned to the vehicle, she saw red marks on the toddler’s face and took him to Franklin Memorial Hospital to be checked. Due to his injuries, as a cautionary procedure, the doctor was transferring him to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. The doctor didn’t believe he was in any “serious danger,”  according to officer Brandon Sholan’s affidavit filed in a Farmington court.

“It was clear by the size of the markings on the (boy’s face) that he had been struck with a large object such as an adult hand,” according to Sholan.

Farmington police arrested Thomas J. Buzzell, 25, on a felony charge of assault on a child less than 6 years old, and misdemeanor charges of operating under the influence and operating after suspension.

The mother called 911 at about 7 p.m. and told dispatchers she was at FMH with her son, and believed Buzzell hit her son in the face. Buzzell had left the hospital in her vehicle, according to the affidavit.

When Sholan and officer Ryan Rosie met with the mother and child at the hospital, she told them she had picked Buzzell up after work and stopped at a store. She went inside the store and Buzzell stayed in the vehicle with her son and his own son. Buzzell denied hitting her son, Sholan wrote.

Upon looking at the child, police could see he had red marks and bruising on his face from his nose area to his forehead and bruising was spreading, he wrote.

A friend of the mother’s arranged to meet Buzzell at a pond in Industry to get the child’s car seat.  Police also responded and watched Buzzell drive into the parking lot.

He  told police the child was annoying him by crying so he put a pacifier in his mouth. Without accusing Buzzell of hitting the child, he told police “he never hit him or touched him,” Sholan wrote, but knew police were looking for him because of the mother’s allegations.

Buzzell was swaying,  slurring his words, and had a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his breath, according to the affidavit.  Buzzell told police he had a few shots of whiskey. Following a field sobriety test, Buzzell was put under arrest and taken to Franklin County jail.

Buzzell was released on a supervised release agreement on Monday.

A conviction on a assault charge carries a maximum five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. A conviction on the OUI and operating after suspension, are punishable by up to 364 days in jail and six months, respectively.

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