By Michelle Kim

Police arrested a Weare man Sunday night, Jan. 27, after learning he allegedly intended to assault a Weare officer after being paid, according to court documents.

Mark E. Yphanitis, 47, of 186A Concord Stage Road, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit simple assault on a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor, and felon in possession of a deadly weapon, a Class B felony.

Weare police were first alerted on Friday, Jan. 25, when Weare resident Robert Phelps, 88, came to the station and told them that Yphantis would try to assault officer James Carney, a 15-year veteran of the Weare Police Department.

He stated that Yphanits was “training” and that he was in fear of Yphantis, according to the police affidavit prepared by Carney.

Earlier in the month, around Jan. 5, Yphantis asked Phelps, who had previously employed him for handiwork on his properties, for assistance after losing his job.

Phelps told police he had given Yphantis $700. A relative described the money as a loan and said Yphantis hadn’t asked for such assistance before. Phelps said that Yphantis believed it was to assault Carney, although Phelps denied that it was for an assault.

The two had talked about Carney, and Yphantis described how he was going to catch Carney off guard, running him off the road and “striking him in the head with his elbows,” according to the affidavit.

The two men were familiar with Carney from an incident of attempted homicide that occurred on Phelps’ property in 2007.

Yphantis had been a witness in the incident, cooperating with police and the investigation. Carney had been one of the first responders on the scene and brought Phelps away from the crime scene. In the process, Phelps fell, receiving a cut on the arm, and was upset with Carney at the time for treating him unfairly, according to the police affidavit. At the time, Yphantis told Phelps that he could “handle Sgt. Carney.”

On Saturday evening, Jan. 26, police had Phelps call Yphantis and offer $2,000 to “deal” with Sgt. Carney. Yphantis’s girlfriend answered the phone and said he would contact Phelps in the morning.

When Weare police arrested Yphantis at his home on Sunday, Jan. 27, shortly before 11 p.m., after the issuance of an arrest warrant, they found a 14-inch Bowie knife under his mattress and charged him with felon in posession of a deadly weapon.

Yphantis had been previously convicted of a second-degree simple assault felony in 1998 for pushing a female associate down the stairs, causing her to break her hip, and eventually served time in state prison, according to court documents at the Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Yphantis was arraigned Monday morning, Jan. 28, in Merrimack District Court with bail set at $10,000 cash or corporate surety. He has a probable cause hearing scheduled for Goffstown District Court on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Police did not charge Yphantis with criminal threatening because some variables weren’t applicable to the situation, said Detective Lou Chatel. He said Carney is working on a normal schedule.