Yomar Rosado, 22, who had been staying at the shelter, was originally charged by Maine State Police with elevated aggravated assault, a Class A felony. The charge has since been modified by prosecutors to aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, a Class B felony.
Maine State Police Lt. Bill Ross said the employees were assaulted with the butter knife.
“There was contact with the weapon,” he said. He characterized their injuries as minor.
York County Shelter Programs director Bob Dawber said the two employees did not require medical attention.
Ross said troopers were called to the shelter around 10 a.m. Friday. He said Rosado was in the process of being told he was being discharged from YCSP’s shelter on Shaker Hill when the incident took place and so retrieved the butter knife from where he’d apparently concealed it behind a ceiling panel.
Ross said Rosado left the premises through a window and was found by police crossing Route 202 near the Maine State Police barracks, not far from the shelter property, no more than 15 minutes after police were called. He was taken into custody without incident.
Dawber on Wednesday said such incidents are rare at YCSP and said this was the first in the five years he has been associated with the Alfred shelter.
He said the shelter is working hard to dispel the stigma that comes with homelessness.
“And as we care about the neighborhood, we reached out to the neighbors and communicated with them,” Dawber said.
Dawber and the shelter’s director of operations, Diane Gerry, said the shelter implemented emergency protocols when the incident took place.
Dawber said Rosado had lived at the shelter for a short period of time and confirmed he was being discharged with the incident played out.
“He was not a threat to anyone in the building, to himself or the public,” said Dawber.
Dawber added the emergency protocol, which was developed four years ago in concert with Maine State Police, “worked perfectly.”
YCSP operates a number of programs in York County, among them the emergency shelter on Shaker Hill. According to their website, the shelter provides 48 beds. The initial contact with a prospective client is either in person or on the telephone. Initially, YCSP’s trained staff will determine the appropriateness and eligibility for emergency admission. If a client is intoxicated or in acute psychiatric crisis, YCSP is not an appropriate placement, and alternative referrals will be suggested, the website explains.
A Class B felony carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, upon conviction.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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