FARMINGTON — A second Livermore Falls man was arrested Friday in connection with a home invasion in which the homeowner was beaten, choked and threatened with a shotgun at 234 Morrison Hill Road.
Livermore Falls police, armed with a warrant from Farmington police, took Joshua Soucy, 43, into custody at his house at 46 Cargill St., Farmington Police Chief Kenneth Charles said Friday.
Soucy was brought to Farmington where officer Rex Schweighofer arrested him on two counts of robbery, one count of kidnapping, one count of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer and one count of obstructing a crime, Charles said.
Soucy, who was out on bail in a different matter, was also charged with violating conditions of his bail, Charles said.
He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, a corrections officer at the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington said Friday. He also is being held without bail on a probation violation.
Farmington police received a search warrant for Soucy’s property, which Farmington, Jay and Livermore Falls police executed Friday, Charles said, and recovered some of the items stolen from the homeowner.
The investigation is ongoing, he added.
The homeowner told police he heard a knock on his door about 11:18 p.m. Feb. 7, according to an affidavit filed in a Farmington District Court. He brought a shotgun to the door and checked out the windows but didn’t see a car. He opened the door to someone asking to use a phone because a vehicle ran out of gas. The man said he heard a noise at the back door, turned and was rushed, beaten, tied up and threatened with a shotgun.
The shotgun was wrestled away from him and pressed to his neck and used to choke him until he lost consciousness. When he woke up he was lying on the living room floor and his hands were tied behind his back and the shotgun pointed at his face, the affidavit said.
Jeromy Merchant, 43, of Livermore Falls was arrested on Monday on a Farmington warrant. The charges against him are the same as Soucy, but with an additional charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Merchant’s bail was set at $50,000 combined for the Farmington charges and the Jay Police Department’s charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibit person, Assistant District Attorney Ellex St. Pierre said after bail was set. The session was held via Zoom from the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington to Farmington District Court.
Merchant is accused of shooting a gun in the air on Feb. 8 near 9 and 11 Church St. in Jay. Police responded and discovered shell casings on the ground, according to a Jay police affidavit.
Merchant was identified from a surveillance camera at a residence across the street, the affidavit filed with the court said.
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