Sentencing finishing in PI assault, robbery
The last two of six people accused of participating in a violent beating and robbery of a man in Presque Isle last summer will face sentencing in July and September 2016.
Derek Robinson, a 27-year-old from Farmington Hills, Michigan, came to Presque Isle last June to take a paternity test and ended up being robbed of more than $1,600 in cash and suffering traumatic head injuries that took a year to recover from, according to Presque Isle Police officer Ryan Eagles.
Eagles led the investigation into the crime, which is wrapping up prosecution by the Aroostook County District Attorney’s Office. Since February, four individuals from Presque Isle have been sentenced to effective prison time of between three and six years.
Robinson came to Presque Isle June 19, 2015, and after his housing arrangement fell through, he and a friend slept in the Walmart parking lot in a car that had broken down, according to Eagles’ police report. An acquaintance later put Robinson in touch with individuals at an apartment in the Presque Isle Housing Authority neighborhood who would allow him to stay for $150 a week, according to the police report.
On June 26, the night before Robinson was set to leave town by bus, he and other individuals purchased and consumed oxycontin pills at the Birch Street apartment, according to the report. Robinson told police that he fell asleep and awoke to being choked, hit and kicked by Shawn White and Jason Blake, who took about $1,600 from his wallet and two cell phones, according to the report.
Robinson was struck repeatedly with a baseball bat, carried out to a car, and taken 10 miles away to West Chapman Road in the neighboring town of Chapman, where he was told to walk and not look back, according to Eagles’s report. Throughout the attack, Robinson later told Eagles, he feared for his life and was threatened with a knife and handgun.
Robinson, who is African American, also said that the assailants used racial slurs and threatened to harm his children if he cooperated with police.
After he was left in Chapman, Robinson walked to a nearby home and asked to call 911, according to the report. The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office and Crown Ambulance arrived at the scene in Chapman, while Presque Isle Police responded to the Birch Street apartment, following a call from neighbors.
Robinson was taken to The Aroostook Medical Center and then to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He later returned to Michigan and spoke with Eagles in February.
