close

Two men sentenced for incident at Waynesburg home

3 min read
article image -

WAYNESBURG – Two men who were found guilty earlier this month of trespassing at a Waynesburg home in October 2013 were sentenced Wednesday to probation.

Jason A. Rutan, 37, and Timothy J. Haywood, 40, both of Waynesburg, were originally charged with criminal trespassing and terroristic threats after they tried to kick in a door at a Waynesburg house Oct. 10, 2013. The men were scared away by a warning gunshot fired at the top of the door by the resident on the 100 block of West Franklin Street.

Senior Judge Hiram Carpenter III sentenced Rutan, who was acquitted of the terroristic threats charge, to one year of probation and he will need to pay court costs and a $100 fine. Haywood, who was found guilty of terroristic threats in addition to trespassing, was sentenced to 18 months on probation and he also will have to pay court costs and $200 in fines.

Neither of them is to have any contact with the victim, Mark Diamond, or his immediate family.

Carpenter convicted the two men during a nonjury trial in early February. The case went to a jury trial in October, but a mistrial was declared on the second day after several jurors had to leave for a variety of reasons.

Both men apologized in court Wednesday for their actions.

“I never expected things to go as far as they did that day,” Haywood said.

Waynesburg police responded to the early-morning call at Diamond’s home, according to court documents. Diamond told police he fired his shotgun once to scare Rutan and Haywood as they attempted to kick in his door. Diamond said he received threatening text messages from the two men before they arrived at his residence and responded with texts telling them he didn’t want to have anything to do with them and to stay away from him.

Diamond told police when the men arrived at his door, he was afraid for himself, his girlfriend and his son. When they continued to kick at the door, he fired a shotgun once through the top of the door, prompting the men to run away. He told police he did it as a warning and did not intend to shoot anyone.

Police said damage from the gunshot was found at the top of the door at Diamond’s house. Dents and markings also were evident on the door’s exterior where it apparently had been kicked. In addition, Diamond’s girlfriend, who was interviewed separately, gave a statement corroborating Diamond’s account of the incident, police said.

Police said Diamond’s cellphone contained text messages from both Haywood and Rutan.

In convicting Haywood of the additional terroristic threats charge, Carpenter said he found Haywood’s texts to be aggressive and threatening but Rutan’s texts were not.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today