BELFAST, Maine — A man who broke into the home of strangers in Palermo two years ago and went on a violently destructive spree while there has been ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling and pay $9,093.50 in restitution in connection with the crime.
Donald York, Jr., 32, of Benton told police officers who responded to the March 27, 2013, incident that he had ingested bath salts prior to breaking into the Carrs Corner Road home, according to reports filed at Belfast District Court.
The homeowners told police that they woke up to the sound of their windows being smashed out. The male homeowner said “a man had broken in and destroyed his house and that he thought he and [his girlfriend] were going to be killed by this man,” according to a report from Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy Jordan Tozier.
York had done “extensive damage” inside the house, Tozier wrote, including breaking furniture, smashing a flat-screen television, breaking five windows, putting his fist through the sheetrock in the living room, wiping blood on the walls of the guest bedroom and spreading non-dairy creamer everywhere.
When Tozier and a Maine state trooper arrived at the home, they worked to extricate and subdue York, who was described as “completely out of control.” They wrote that York was screaming, yelling, spitting and rolling on the ground. He also told police he was looking for a friend whom officers knew had died several years before, according to Tozier’s report.
“My observations were consistent with the effects of a hallucinogenic drug such as bath salts,” Tozier wrote.
Emergency medical responders ended up injecting York with sedatives so that he could be taken to Maine General Hospital in Augusta for treatment.
Detective Gerry Lincoln, who also responded, wrote in another report that the male homeowner was injured after he tried to get Donald York out of the house, and also had to be taken to Maine General Hospital for treatment.
The female homeowner told police she had grabbed her phone and gone into the attached garage, closing and locking the door after her.
York was charged with criminal mischief, aggravated criminal trespass, assault, aggravated criminal mischief and criminal trespass.
After York was charged, the court approved a deferred disposition, under which he was required to participate in substance abuse evaluation and treatment and was subjected to random search and testing for alcohol and illegal drugs.
Under terms of the contract, York pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal mischief and criminal trespass and assault. The more serious charges were dismissed. Last week, York was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all suspended, one year of probation and ordered to pay $9,093.50 in restitution.
His probation conditions prohibit him from having contact with the Carrs Corner Road homeowners, and require him to continue substance abuse counseling as well as submit to random search and testing for alcohol and drugs.