ROCKLAND – A Warren man is going to jail for assaulting a man who was helping a woman move out of her home.

David H. Atwood, 47, of Warren, pleaded guilty March 16 in Knox County Unified Court to aggravated assault, domestic violence assault, and unlawful possession of Suboxone. Two additional counts of aggravated assault were dismissed.

Atwood was sentenced to two years in jail, with all but nine months suspended. He was also ordered to serve one year of probation after his release from jail.

Additionally, Atwood was ordered by the court to pay restitution of $7,339 to Pilgrim Insurance Company as reimbursement for its expenses in covering the injured man, and $488 to Thomaston ambulance. He was also fined $400 for the drug possession charge.

According to the police affidavit filed in court by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, they were notified of the attack on July 28 by Thomaston police, after one of the two victims reported the incident.

The man told police that he had responded to a residence in Warren after he received a call from a friend that she was being abused by Atwood and needed assistance to move out of the home with her children. When the man arrived at the residence, Atwood struck him in the head multiple times with a 36-inch wooden dowel and also tried to choke him from behind, according to court documents. The victim said he was able to flee the scene and was then treated at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport for his injuries, according to the affidavit.

The second victim, a female, reported to police that Atwood had accused her of seeing someone else and they got into an argument. She said that Atwood grabbed her right index finger, twisted and pulled on it, and eventually caused the tip of her finger to come loose. The victim had previously had a recent infection in the same finger, and there now was a possibility that the attack caused permanent disfigurement and/or amputation, according to the affidavit.

Police also found Suboxone strips inside Atwood’s wallet and he did not have an active prescription for the drug.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com