Man pleads guilty to two charges after being accused of assaulting officer

A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty to assault and criminal mischief after a drunken dispute where he was accused of assaulting an officer among other charges early last month in Fraser.

Adam C. Caplinger pleaded guilty to third degree assault and criminal mischief under $300. The district attorney dismissed six other charges, which included a felony charge of assaulting an officer, two counts of resisting arrest, a second charge of third degree assault, false imprisonment and third degree trespassing.

The court sentenced Caplinger to serve two 60-day jail
sentences consecutively. His probation of two years for each count will be
served together and he owed $2,200 in total fines and costs.

According to his arrest affidavit, Fraser Winter Park police
responded to a call the evening of Aug. 1 about a domestic dispute at a home
shared by Caplinger’s girlfriend and roommate.

Caplinger was intoxicated and arguing with his girlfriend,
the affidavit said. Both the girlfriend and roommate asked him to leave their
home, but he allegedly refused.

The affidavit said that at one point during the argument,
the girlfriend went downstairs to the bathroom and Caplinger followed her in,
closing the door. He refused to let her out by blocking the doorway, allegedly
keeping his girlfriend in the bathroom for about three minutes.

The roommate came downstairs with an unloaded shotgun that led
to a fight with Caplinger as he tried to take the shotgun away, according to
the affidavit. Caplinger allegedly threw a punch at the roommate that did not
connect. She then went back upstairs with the shotgun and locked herself in
another room.

The girlfriend and Caplinger continued to argue. Caplinger
allegedly damaged drywall and a locking mechanism with estimated damages of
$50.

After officers arrived and decided they had enough evidence to arrest Caplinger, he became argumentative and refused to obey the officers’ orders. An altercation with officers occurred that, according to the affidavit, led to the two officers suffering small abrasions and cuts including one that required stitches. However, Caplinger’s charges of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest were dismissed.