FARMINGTON — A local man was indicted Thursday on charges that he attempted to strangle his father’s girlfriend and threatened to kill her at a home on Weeks Mill Road last summer.

Nicholas M. Smith, 33, of Farmington was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on charges of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor criminal threatening.

A conviction for aggravated assault is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.  A conviction for criminal threatening is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

Smith was arrested on those charges Aug. 12, 2024.

Farmington police officer Ethan Bronson responded to a call to the residence that day and found Smith’s father on top of him.

The father told Bronson that Nicholas tried to strangle his girlfriend so he tackled him, according to Bronson’s affidavit filed in the Farmington District Court.

The father’s girlfriend told police she and Nicholas got into a verbal argument about chores, and he got angry and threatened to kill her saying “‘You deserve to die. I am going to kill you,'” according to the court document.

She told police Nicholas put his hands around her throat, Bronson wrote.

Nicholas admitted to choking her, according to the affidavit.

Farmington Sgt. Ethan Boyd asked the girlfriend about the attempted strangulation and she described “being unable to breath” and was having trouble swallowing medication and her throat being sore and painful, according to the court document. The officer photographed red marks on the right side of her throat.

Smith was taken to Franklin County Detention Center and appeared before a judge who set bail at $500 cash.

Defense attorney Sarah Glynn of Oxford Hills Law in Paris said she and fellow attorney Bradley Sica Jr. had no comment.