‘Domestic situations’ are the hardest for law enforcement to deal with, primarily because the passions involved are so immediate.  Law enforcement in general has had a tough time dealing with domestic violence as a crime because many victims do not wish to report or press charges, and because there is a very fine line, in some cases, between an argument that has gotten out of control and actual violence.  Often, though not always, alcohol and drugs play a role, and things are out of hand.

Historically, in Maine and elsewhere, police have separated the two parties and let the aggressor ‘cool off’ somewhere else. However, this kind of reaction has not stemmed the tide of domestic violence, and is no longer the way domestic situations are handled.  Whether she wants to press charges or not, charges are filed against the aggressor in the situation.  This is as a result of legislation enacted during the 123rd legislature, by Beth Edmonds (D) of Freeport, which created five new laws: domestic violence assault, domestic violence criminal threatening, domestic violence terrorizing, domestic violence stalking and domestic violence reckless conduct.  This bill also created a second strike felony for domestic violence cases.

Also largely ineffective have been civil injunctions, such as protection from abuse orders.  Many aggressors feel that it is not the place of government or police to deal with a family issue, and simply ignore the orders.

This is a story of a ‘domestic situation that tragically ended in death on a South Gardiner highway in late December.

Attorney General Steven Rowe announced this week that a Gardiner police officer, James Gioia, and a State Police trooper, Christopher Rogers, were legally justified when they used deadly force against Jason Wentzell, 28, of Vassalboro, during the early afternoon of December 21, in South Gardiner.  Wentzell died as the result of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Under Maine law, for a law enforcement officer to be justified in using deadly force for purposes of self-protection or the protection of third persons, two requirements must be met.  First, the officer must actually and reasonably believe that unlawful deadly force is imminently threatened against the officer or a third person.  Second, the officer must actually and reasonably believe that the officer's use of deadly force is necessary to meet or counter that imminent threat of unlawful deadly force.

On December 21, Officer James Gioia of the Gardiner Police Department was working patrol duties in uniform and a marked cruiser. While at the Gardiner Police Station at about noon, Gioia became aware of a broadcast issued by the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office alerting officers in the area that Jason Wentzell, age 28, of Vassalboro, was suicidal and was possibly on his way to a residence in South Gardiner where his estranged wife was staying.  The broadcast included a description of the vehicle being driven by Wentzell – a blue 2005 Chevrolet pickup truck.  Officer Gioia also became aware through an additional broadcast that Wentzell was armed.

Gioia saw two or three vehicles ahead of him stopped in the northbound lane of the roadway. He saw a man standing in the roadway carrying a rifle with the barrel was pointed skyward.  The man, later identified as Jason Wentzell, was pacing near his pickup truck, which was at a standstill diagonally across the roadway, prohibiting travel in the northbound lane, and partially blocking the southbound lane.  The driver's door was fully open.  The first vehicle stopped in the northbound lane was nearest Wentzell.  It was soon determined that inside this vehicle was Wentzell's estranged wife, his infant son, and his mother-in-law. 

The scene itself was less than a quarter-of-a-mile from the residence where Wentzell's wife had been staying.  It was later determined that when Wentzell, driving south on Route 24, saw his wife's vehicle traveling north, he pulled his pickup diagonally across the road and stopped, which kept her from proceeding.

Officer Gioia, having brought his cruiser to a stop and now standing in the "V" of the open door armed with his .45 caliber service weapon, ordered Wentzell to drop his rifle.  Wentzell refused.  He shouted that "this is between me and my wife."  Gioia issued similar commands multiple times, only to get the same response from Wentzell that this was between his wife and him.  Gioia got back into his cruiser and drove it several feet closer to Wentzell to a point that the cruiser, still headed north in the southbound lane, and Wentzell's wife vehicle, still at a standstill in the northbound lane, were parallel to one another.  Wentzell said that he was not there to hurt anyone but himself. 

Just prior to Officer Gioia's arrival at the scene, O'Neill LaPlante, an off-duty Richmond police officer on Highway 24 who was unarmed and in a privately-owned vehicle, heard radio traffic inquiring about the availability of a police negotiator.   He told Officer Gioia that he was a trained negotiator.  LaPlante started talking with Wentzell in an attempt to calm him down and persuade him to relinquish the rifle.  The attempt was unsuccessful. However, it gave Wentzell’s wife a chance to get everyone out of her car and hide behind the police cruiser.

According to both Gioia and LaPlante, Wentzell became angrier when he discovered that his wife was no longer in her car.  Gioia's continued instructions for Wentzell to drop the rifle were met with refusal and obscenities.

At 12:12 p.m., just prior to Officer Gioia's arrival, a man cleaning snow from a nearby parking lot with his father called 911 on his cellular telephone and requested the police.  The call was recorded by the 911 answering point.  The caller said there was a man in the middle of the road "holding a rifle at some people," and that "this guy's nuts, somebody better get here quick."  The caller further reported that the man had "the whole road blocked off" with his truck, and "he's screaming at people [in Wentzell's wife's car] to get out."

The caller stayed on the line with the 911 dispatcher for more than eight minutes during which time Wentzell can be heard on the recording shouting various statements, such as "I've had enough.  I'm [expletive] not giving anybody any more [expletive] chances.  I'm done.  I've had it.  I don't [expletive] deserve to live anymore.  If she won't get out of the car, it's over.  I'm not here to hurt anybody but myself."  Officer Gioia can be heard trying to persuade Wentzell to relinquish the rifle. 

Gioia: "I want you to drop the gun."
Wentzell: "I don't care what you want. Do I look like I care what you want?"

About six minutes had passed since Officer Gioia's arrival at the scene when Chief James Toman of the Gardiner Police Department arrived, followed shortly by Troopers Christopher Rogers and Jonathan Leach.  All three initially took up positions with their respective vehicles about 200 feet north of where Officer Gioia was located.

This placed Wentzell, who was about 45 feet away from Officer Gioia, between the three additional officers and Officer Gioia.  Trooper Rogers, armed with a rifle, eventually took up a position behind a tree on the west side of the roadway about 100 feet from Wentzell, while Trooper Leach, also armed with a rifle, took up a position behind a high snow bank on the east side of the roadway about 80 feet from Wentzell.

Trooper Leach described Wentzell at that point as becoming more agitated and the tone of his voice sharper. All three officers recalled that it was at that point that Wentzell screamed an obscenity and raised the rifle to his shoulder with it pointed in a southerly direction towards Officers LaPlante and Gioia and the area where his wife, child, and mother-in-law had retreated.  Chief Toman, and others, heard Officer Gioia, shout, "No!  You don't want to do that."  At about the same time that Wentzell fired a single shot from his rifle, Officer Gioia and Trooper Rogers simultaneously shot at Wentzell.  Trooper Leach also pulled the trigger on his rifle to shoot at Wentzell, but the rifle malfunctioned and did not discharge.  Wentzell, struck by the gunfire from Officer Gioia and Trooper Rogers, fell to the ground. Approximately 13 minutes had elapsed from the time Officer Gioia arrived at the scene.

It was later determined that the one shot fired by Officer Gioia struck Wentzell in the upper chest.  Trooper Rogers discharged two rounds in rapid succession, one of which struck Wentzell in the right knee, the other of which struck the butt of Wentzell's rifle, which was later determined to be a .22 caliber semiautomatic.  The single round fired by Wentzell struck and penetrated the hood of Wentzell's wife's car.