A felony charge was filed against a man accused of throwing a woman to the floor and breaking a man’s jaw at a bar in Oklahoma Borough after she didn’t leave quickly enough when last call was announced.
Benjamin Thomas Yaconis, 31, of the 700 block of North Seventh Street in Apollo was charged by state police with a felony count of aggravated assault, along with counts of simple assault and harassment.
Yaconis was charged by summons. He was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing June 20 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.
A state trooper wrote in a criminal complaint charging Yaconis that he responded to an altercation shortly before 2:30 a.m. Jan. 19 at the Hillview Tavern on Hancock Avenue in Oklahoma.
A woman told the trooper she was playing pool with friends when the bartender announced last call and asked patrons to leave the tavern, the complaint said.
She said they continued playing to finish their game when Yaconis came up to her and started an argument about the group ignoring the bartender’s instructions for them to leave.
The woman told the trooper that Yaconis threw her to the floor and tried to strike her, the complaint said.
Yaconis also is accused of breaking another bar patron’s jaw by repeatedly hitting him in the face. The injuries the man suffered required surgeries, police said.
The man and woman identified Yaconis as the person who assaulted them before he fled from the tavern, the complaint said.
Police contacted Yaconis, who provided them with the information they needed to file charges, but he declined to discuss the incident with investigators, the complaint said.
