Man gets jail for violent burglary in Linwood
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Delaware man who entered an open guilty plea to burglary last month for an October 2018 incident that took place inside a Linwood business was sentenced to two to five years in a state prison Monday.
Richard Simmons, 47, of the 700 block of Washington Street in Wilmington, was also ordered to serve 10 years of consecutive state probation in a bid to ensure that he complies with a mental health therapy and medication regiment.
“I think the problem with Mr. Simmons at this point is treatment and supervision,” said Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli. “When he’s not supervised, when he’s not in treatment, he gets off his meds … and then he self-medicates, and that’s the real problem here.”
Simmons has been incarcerated since his arrest Oct. 4, 2018, when a Lower Chichester police officer found him inside a business along Market Street shortly before 12:30 a.m.
Officer Tim McBride was on patrol when he heard what he thought was a female screaming from inside the business, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Simmons’ arrest. McBride entered the business and heard screams coming from behind the counter, where he saw a man later identified as Simmons lying on top of the screaming woman.
“I drew my weapon and ordered the defendant to get up off the victim,” McBride said in the affidavit.
Simmons stood and turned toward the officer, but repeatedly failed to comply with orders to get on the ground, according to the affidavit. Instead, he advanced toward the officer, who holstered his weapon and pulled out his Taser.
When Simmons continued to ignore the officers’ demands, the affidavit says McBride shot him with the Taser, dropping him to the floor. Backup officers arrived at the scene, but Simmons continued to resist arrest for a few minutes before being subdued, according to the affidavit.
The woman suffered an abrasion to her right elbow and a swollen lip. She was treated at the scene by paramedics. She later told McBride and Police Sgt. Larry Moore that she was working when she saw a man walk in and out of the business two or three times. The last time she heard him enter, she was in the back behind a counter getting ready to leave for the night, she said.
The man then moved behind the counter, blocking her exit, according to the affidavit. She said the man was unfazed when she told him the police station was nearby, then grabbed her and threw her on the floor.
When she tried to get up, he physically held her down, according to the affidavit. The woman said she feared for her life and was screaming as the man was on top of her. It was at this point McBride entered the business.
Simmons was initially charged with felony attempted forcible rape, aggravated assault and burglary, but those were withdrawn at a prior hearing and replaced with three counts of misdemeanor indecent assault, along with remaining initial charges of simple assault, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment, harassment and resisting arrest.
The burglary charge, which had previously been withdrawn, was reinstated at the Nov. 6 plea hearing and the rest of the charges were dismissed.
The victim said Monday through a combination of an interpreter and limited English that she had suffered stress and a shock, and does not want the same thing to happen to anyone else.
Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher said Simmons has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as mental health issues. She said he had some significant prior arrests on his record, including three robberies and two burglaries. All told, she said he had been arrested 45 times with 28 convictions, and employed nine Social Security numbers and 19 aliases with six dates of birth.
Simmons contested those numbers, claiming the aliases belong to another man with a similar name, though he did acknowledge that he had been arrested a few times in the past.
Simmons also apologized to the victim, saying he was not in his right mind at the time and would never purposely hurt a woman or child. He claimed to have been on the streets and addicted to drugs and alcohol since he was a teenager, when he lost his family to drugs and gun violence.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Gold argued his client had never been properly treated for his mental health issues – which include schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, poly-substance dependence and antisocial personality disorder – but had instead been put through the “turnstile” of the justice system.
Simmons is taking responsibility for as much of his actions as he can remember now, Gold said, which occurred after he was discharged to the street from a Delaware hospital and again fell into drug use.
“My concern,” said Gold, “is that if we just give him a standard sentence to five years, to six years, with a probationary detail, all we’re doing is kicking the can down the road and not giving my client any sort of tools and treatment that he needs so that when he does get out, he can become a productive member of society and also make sure that – as the victim said – this does not happen to her or anyone else.”
Cappelli acknowledged it was a “perplexing” case made more difficult by the mental health aspect and granted Gold’s request to recommend that Simmons be placed into a dual-diagnosis facility to treat his addiction and mental health issues.
Simmons was also ordered to comply with all evaluations, including a drug and alcohol evaluation, psychiatric evaluation and psychological evaluation, and stay away from the victim and anywhere she might work. Simmons additionally must submit a DNA sample to state police.
Simmons is not eligible for boot camp or early release, but was given credit time to Oct. 4, 2018.