Mental illness and crime

By Linda Cicoira

     Court cases showed Monday that unaddressed mental health issues can sometimes lead to criminal activity.

     In Northampton Circuit Court, a 24-year-old Exmore man pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a police officer, tampering with a fire suppressant unit at the Eastern Shore Regional Jail, and destruction of property, all from a September 2024 incident

According to evidence, the defendant was asked to return a jail tablet. He told a deputy that he was going to break the electronic gadget, and then proceeded to do so. While being restrained, he pulled the line for a fire suppressant, which caused $1,000 worth of damage. Then he spat in a second deputy’s face.

His attorney acknowledged that he had a mental condition and was taking medication, which had “done wonders for him.” His diagnosis and treatment were not disclosed.

It wasn’t the first time the defendant had problems at a jail and wasn’t taking medicine for his ailment. In 2021, while being held on robbery and wounding charges, he attacked a fellow inmate. He asked the other man for his commissary and followed him into his cell to get the $22 worth of food and soap. The victim was taken to the hospital with blackened, swollen eyes and a nose.

The defense lawyer told the court his client “suffered a lot of traumas as a child that has never really been addressed.” The suspect was given medication at that time and also improved.

Sentencing for the Northampton crimes was set for Sept. 2. The maximum term is 15 years in prison with a mandatory sentence of six months for assaulting an officer.

    In another case, a charge of making a threat to kill his father was dismissed against a 37-year-old Cape Charles man. The case arose from a couple of Facebook texts. Both the prosecutor and the defense were in favor of his release, as “he is taking his medication and everything seems to be fine. He needs probation because he has to continue to take it.”