Man Charged with Assaulting Woman in PD Parking Lot

A Merrimack man has been charged with assaulting a woman in a car in the parking lot of the Merrimack Police Department.

James McCarthy, 28, was charged with two counts of domestic/simple assault and two counts of domestic/criminal mischief. He was released on $5,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear in the 9th Circuit Court in Merrimack on Feb. 4 to answer to the charges.

Merrimack Police said they arrested McCarthy on Monday at 9:55 a.m. at his residence on an active warrant from an incident that happened the night before.

Around 10:27 p.m. Sunday, a vehicle pulled into the Merrimack Police Department parking lot honking its horn. The dispatcher on duty, thinking this was odd, went to investigate further and heard a woman scream. At this time, the police officers in the building were notified and were on scene within seconds.

While investigating, police said they found that McCarthy was passenger in a vehicle with another household/family member when an argument ensued. During the course of the argument, he kicked the windshield and caused it to break. The rear view mirror also came loose and struck the victim above the right eye. It was also alleged that McCarthy pulled the victim's hair when they pulled into the police station.

McCarthy had fled the scene by this point and was not located until Monday morning after the warrant was signed.