WILTON — After taking a combination of prescription drugs and cocaine, a Portsmouth man attacked his relatives' furniture with an ax before assaulting a Wilton police officer who responded to the family's call for help, authorities said.

William Licata, 34, of 50 Austin St. in Portsmouth was visiting his aunt and uncle in Wilton on June 27 when he began acting erratically, according to documents on file at the 9th Circuit Court in Milford.

Licata's relatives called police around 4 a.m. on June 27 and said that Licata was “having some sort of breakdown.”

When Officer John Frechette arrived, Licata was allegedly “acting animated” and claimed that there were people in the woods around the house who were trying to harm him, said the court documents.

At one point, before police arrived, Licata had taken an unloaded gun from the study of the house to defend himself from the people he believed were in the woods, but his uncle had taken the gun away from him. The uncle had then checked the woods but found no one out there, so he called the police.

Licata allegedly told Frechette that he had taken a combination of prescription drugs and cocaine earlier in the night. Frechette and Licata's uncle and aunt agreed that he would sleep on the couple's couch, so the officer left. But within the hour, Frechette was called back because Licata had allegedly taken an ax and was chopping up the entertainment center in the room where he was supposed to be sleeping because “the electronic devices were agitating him.”

Frechette tried to calm Licata down, according to court documents, but Licata charged him, knocked him to the ground, punched the officer in the head three times and attempted to choke him. Frechette was able to restrain Licata and got him into the police cruiser where Licata attempted to break the windows of the car, court documents said.

Licata has been charged with one felony count of second-degree assault, four counts of simple assault, one count of resisting arrest, and two counts of criminal mischief. He was being held on $50,000 cash bail at Valley Street Jail in Manchester.

Licata was due in court for a probable cause hearing Tuesday, but the hearing was postponed until July 31.

Wilton Police Chief Brent Hautanen said that Frechette suffered minor injuries in the attack.

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Nancy Bean Foster may be reached at nfoster@newstote.com.