FARMINGTON — A convicted felon from Carthage is accused of terrorizing people with a handgun after an argument at a social gathering Friday afternoon in Wilton.

Wilton police arrested Michael C. Ringer, 49, on Saturday morning at his residence on Coyote Lane. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and threatening with a dangerous weapon. He was also placed on a probation hold.

On Monday, state prosecutors changed the threatening charge to felony terrorizing with a dangerous weapon.

Franklin County dispatchers received a complaint Friday afternoon that Ringer was brandishing a firearm at a social gathering and threatening people at a Route 133 residence, Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox wrote in an email.

A witness told police that she, Ringer and some friends had been drinking at her residence all day, according to Wilton officer Efra Becerra’s affidavit filed with the court. There was a verbal argument between Ringer and two other people, the witness told police, according to the court document.

The witness and some friends were standing behind some trucks at the residence and a witness saw Ringer point a gun toward people at the house, Becerra wrote.

Another witness told police there was a “big verbal fight” and Ringer pointed a .38-caliber handgun at people and she pushed Ringer’s hand to get him to stop. The witness said “Michael told her that if he went to jail, he could ‘put someone way down under, where no one would find them,'” according to the affidavit.

He left the residence on foot before police arrived.

Ringer’s probation officer authorized a search for alcohol at Ringer’s residence in Carthage, because he is barred from having it. Police found several empty alcohol containers and two unopened ones, according to Becerra’s affidavit.

Ringer appeared Monday before a Franklin County judge via tele-video conference from the Franklin County jail. His bail was set at $25,000 cash. Judge Tammy Ham-Thompson appointed attorney Thomas J. Carey of Farmington to represent him.

A conviction on the charges is punishable by up to five years in prison.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net 

Michael Ringer (Franklin County Detention Center)