A Nikiski man was arrested for assault after the alleged victim sent a plea for help to the Alaska State Troopers Facebook page.
Tao L. Yancey, 39, allegedly smashed a woman’s phone with an axe, punched her and threatened to “cut off her head and bury her” during an altercation Monday, according to an Alaska State Trooper affidavit filed with the court.
Soldotna troopers were notified by the state troopers headquarters in Anchorage that a Nikiski woman sent the message “send cops now. beat up.” and “he axed by phone and threatened to axe me” to their Facebook page, according to the affidavit.
When they arrived at the home, troopers found the woman bloodied and disheveled, with injuries to her face and a piece of her ear missing, troopers reported.
The woman reportedly told troopers that Yancey had shoved her to the floor, causing her to hit her head on a desk, and that he had punched her in the face several times. Troopers noted injuries to the woman’s face, and bruising on the right side of her neck where she said he had tried to stab her with a blunt knife sharpener.
The woman also said Yancey had thrown her phone across the room and smashed it with an axe in front of her, troopers reported. The home’s plywood subfloor showed damage from six axe strikes, two of which where directly in front of where the woman had been sitting, according to the affidavit.
Troopers said they didn’t find an axe at the house, but reported that Yancey said the axe was double-bladed with a full-size handle. Troopers found the woman’s smashed phone in a sewage hole.
Yancey was charged with third-degree assault, a class C felony; fourth-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor; fourth-degree criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with the report of a crime involving domestic violence, a class A misdemeanor.
He was arraigned Tuesday. Bail was set at $50,000 cash.
