Sangerville

Piscataquis County man accused of killing father’s cat with frying pan on Thanksgiving

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff

A Piscataquis County man released Wednesday, Nov. 25 on unsecured bail was arrested Thanksgiving Day after he allegedly beat his father’s cat to death with a frying pan.

Ryan T. Carleton, 43, formerly of Guilford, was taken to the Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft. He is charged with animal cruelty and violation of conditions of release, according to the district attorney’s office.

Carleton will make his first appearance on the new charges Monday at the Piscataquis County Judicial Center, according to R. Christopher Almy, assistant district attorney.

He was released Wednesday on an unsecured bond for the third time in a month after appearing before District Court Judge Kevin Stitham, Almy said Saturday. Conditions included that he have no contact with his mother, who lives in Guilford, or his father, who resides in Sangerville.

“Both his mother and father said that he shouldn’t be released due to his violent and drunken behavior,” Almy said.

The prosecutor said he asked the judge to revoke Carleton’s bail on a previous incident and order that he be held without bail until a hearing could be held to determine if he should remain free on bail. Stitham refused.

The dead cat was discovered Thursday morning when Carleton’s father called police about 7 a.m. to report that his son was “out of it” and very violent, according to a police affidavit. The father told deputies that he had let his son stay with him Wednesday even though it violated his bail condition because Carleton had nowhere else to go.

The deputy called for backup and when an investigator arrived the deputy called upstairs to Carleton, the affidavit said. The man came downstairs, was placed in handcuffs in the investigator’s cruiser and shackled.

As the investigator left to take Carleton to jail again, the father called to the deputy, “He killed my cat.” Carleton’s father had discovered the body of the cat and a bloody cast iron frying pan upstairs in the room where his son had been sleeping. The father told the deputy that he was afraid his son would do the same to him.

Carleton was on bail from on a disorderly conduct charge in Cumberland County when he allegedly stole his mother’s car about 3:37 p.m.on Nov. 17, Almy said. Carleton had been drinking, a violation of his bail conditions, and did not have a driver’s license.

He was arrested and taken to the Dover-Foxcroft jail but refused to take a breath test or sign the refusal form, according to Almy. Carleton was released the next day on $1,000 unsecured bail with conditions that he have no contact with his mother, not be in Guilford, abstain from using alcohol and submit to testing for alcohol use.

On Nov. 23, Carleton’s father called 911 to report that his son was drunk and becoming violent and angry, Almy said. A deputy sheriff found Carleton at the Country Time store, where he’d gone on foot from his father’s house.

Carleton resisted arrest and the deputy used a stun gun to subdue him, the prosecutor said. The owners of the store, who knew Carleton, locked the door when they saw him trying to come inside. 

Carleton appeared before Judge Stitham on Wednesday set bail at $5,000 unsecured with conditions that he have no contact with his father, not use alcohol and submit to testing.

Carleton faces a slew of charges, the most serious of which is theft of his mother’s car, a Class B crime. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on that charge. The majority of the other charges are Class D misdemeanors which carry a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $2,000 fine.

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