A man who was engaged in a standoff with police for nearly an entire day in Old Town last June triggered by his religious delusions is out on probation after a monthslong saga that saw him beaten in jail and run up against the state’s bottlenecked mental health treatment system.
Thadius Wind, 47, was arrested June 14, 2021 and charged with criminal threatening, terrorizing with a dangerous weapon and violating conditions of release after the standoff that closed down Stillwater Avenue for several hours.
After moving in and out of jail and Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta in the subsequent months, Wind on Tuesday changed his plea from not guilty to no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer, terrorizing and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
The change of plea resolves Wind’s latest set of run-ins with the criminal justice system triggered by religious delusions. He was beaten in jail, released, rearrested on a firearm possession charge and found not competent to stand trial. He waited 55 days before he could move to the state’s psychiatric hospital in Augusta for treatment due to bottlenecks in the state’s mental health treatment system, but also due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the Penobscot County Jail.
He was found competent to stand trial following his stay at Riverview Psychiatric Center, leading to his no contest pleas this past week. A plea of no contest results in a conviction.
Wind drew a sentence of seven months in jail and a $250 fine on the assaulting an officer charge, a sentence of seven months on the terrorizing charge and a sentence of four years behind bars with all but seven months suspended, along with two years of probation on the firearm possession charge.
Wind was released following his pleas because he was allowed to serve the jail sentences concurrently, and because the court counted the time he had already served toward his jail time. He’ll now be on probation for the next two years, and could be sent back behind bars for the remainder of his four-year sentence if he is caught violating his probation terms.
As part of his probation, Wind must receive mental health treatment and he’s barred from possessing dangerous weapons and illegal drugs, according to District Attorney Marianne Lynch.
Before the June 14, 2021, standoff, Old Town police had several interactions with Wind, including a June 1 arrest when officers responded to a call at his then-apartment on Stillwater Avenue. During that interaction, Wind allegedly assaulted an officer and destroyed a flashlight.
Less than two weeks later, on June 14, Old Town police arrived at his apartment building shortly after midnight when a neighbor reported that it sounded like a man and his girlfriend were fighting. Wind allegedly threatened the officers from his second-story window with what appeared to be a samurai-type sword.
Police got the woman out of the building early on, but Wind refused to leave. Police fired tear gas into the apartment but ultimately used an Old Town fire truck and chainsaws to enter the apartment through the roof.
Prosecutors said during Wind’s initial court appearance that he appeared to be suffering from religious delusions during the standoff.
“He made statements indicating that he was suffering from religious delusions, including that he believed he holds an Arc of the Covenant and that his deceased son is God and is talking to him,” Lori Renzullo, a student attorney with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s office, said during that hearing.
Three days into Wind’s stay at Penobscot County Jail, a fellow inmate attacked and severely injured him. After receiving treatment at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Wind was held in isolation at the jail due to what a court document described as his “fragile state.” He was released on an unsecured bail of $1,000 on June 25.
Wind was arrested again on July 15, after his girlfriend told Maine State Police that Wind had a .22-caliber handgun in his “apocalypse go-bag,” a violation of his conditions of release.
During Wind’s court appearance on his new charges the next day, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Lewis said Wind was also wanted in Ohio for a 2018 failure to appear in court charge and is listed there as “armed and dangerous with violent tendencies.”