A Winthrop woman was in jail Wednesday, accused of hitting the father of her children in the face with an ax.

Tiffany M. Bragg, 32, was charged with aggravated assault after Winthrop police responded to a domestic disturbance Tuesday on Mount Pisgah Road and found Christopher Barter holding a plastic bag containing frozen meat to injuries on his cheek.

Barter told police that Bragg hit him in the face with an ax before putting it in the trunk of her car, taking their two children and the dog and driving away, according to an affidavit by Winthrop police Officer Kenneth Tabor.

Tabor reported seeing a large bruise and swelling that partially closed Barter’s left eye, Tabor’s affidavit says. The affidavit was filed in the Kennebec Unified Criminal Docket case before Bragg’s initial court appearance on Wednesday. One of the children called 911 from the vehicle, Tabor said, and police stopped it in Monmouth. Police found a blood-spattered flat-head ax with a 3-foot handle in the trunk.

Barter told police the two had been drinking and had argued about money. He said Bragg started hitting the trailer with the ax, and he tried to get it away from her when she started swinging it at the lawn mower.

Bragg told police she grabbed the ax to defend herself after Barter shoved her to the ground outside the trailer.

Neighbors told police the couple had been fighting. Tabor said he had been to the home previously in response to reports of domestic disputes.

Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams;http://www.twitter.com/betadams