A 54-year-old Newcastle man who was naked when he attacked a female bicyclist on Belvedere Road in Nobleboro April 21 has been found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.
David S. Gilbert had been charged with class B aggravated assault, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He will remain in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services indefinitely, according to Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright.
DHHS will place Gilbert “in an appropriate institution for the care and treatment of persons with mental illness or in an appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who have intellectual disabilities or autism,” according to the Oct. 8 commitment order signed by Superior Court Justice Daniel Billings.
“The defendant shall be held and retained unless and until the court finds that release or discharge is not likely to cause injury to the defendant or to others due to mental disease or mental defect and orders such release or discharge” in accordance with Maine law, according to the document.
The order prohibits Gilbert from possessing or using firearms.
Gilbert was walking along Belvedere Road nude in the early evening hours of April 21 when he struck a female bicyclist in the face, knocking her to the ground, according to a police report by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ken Hatch. Gilbert then jumped on the woman and started to strangle her.
The woman “screamed for help” and a passerby “yelled at (Gilbert) to stop and for someone to call 911,” Hatch said in the report. Gilbert released the victim and fled on foot. The woman was not seriously hurt.
Then-Damariscotta Police Officer Ryan Chubbuck located Gilbert, who approached him “in a very aggressive manner and refused all orders to stop,” Hatch said. Chubbuck tased Gilbert three times and arrested him.
Gilbert told police “he blacked out and does not remember anything,” Hatch said.
Gilbert experienced a “psychotic episode” on the day in question, according to a motion by his attorney, Gregory Snow. He was subsequently committed to the psychiatric ward at Togus, the U.S. Veterans Administration facility in Augusta.
Gilbert remained at Togus until May 11. He was transferred to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset upon his release, where he remained until June 26. He has since completed a chemical dependency rehabilitation program, according to Snow.
The State Forensic Service evaluated Gilbert and the evaluation “was very clear that he was not criminally responsible,” said Wright, the prosecutor in the case.
The attorneys for both sides were in agreement about the outcome, as were Gilbert and the victim.
“I think it is the best answer. It was pretty obvious,” Wright said. “This was such a horrible, random act of violence with no precedent for it – obviously there was a significant mental health issue that was going on, which was confirmed by the State Forensic Service.”
Gilbert will remain at the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta or another DHHS facility indefinitely, Wright said. His stay there could range from a year to the rest of his life. The court process to secure his release would itself take about a year, Wright said.
