AUGUSTA — An Augusta man who is accused of attacking a Pike Street homeowner with a cast iron frying pan made his initial appearance in court Wednesday via video from the Kennebec County jail.
Augusta police say no one was home when Kristopher M. Russ, 33, broke into James Young’s home around 2 p.m. Tuesday. When Young returned home and found Russ in his bedroom, Russ struck Young, 79, repeatedly on his head and shoulder with the frying pan before taking Young’s wallet, some blank checks, money and jewelry, and later trying to cash a check he wrote out to himself on Young’s account, police said.
Court papers say a teller at Kennebec Savings Bank recognized the check because Young is a regular customer, but she didn’t recognize the man presenting it. She asked for identification, and the man handed over identification belonging to Russ. Police traced that name to a Page Street address.
Justice Robert Mullen set bail for Russ at $250,000 cash, the amount requested by the state, after outlining the charges and maximum penalties for each. The robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison; the burglary and aggravated assault charges, 10 years each. Mullen said the bail could be reviewed once an attorney is appointed for Russ.
“The state believes that for public safety, we need to have a high cash bail set in this case,” said Tyler LeClair, assistant district attorney.
LeClair said Russ told police he picked up the pan when he was in the kitchen.
“When he had a chance to use it as a weapon, he did,” LeClair told the judge.
Stephen Bourget, lawyer of the day representing Russ, objected to the high bail amount, saying that Russ “obviously is never going to get close to that,” and that it was the equivalent of holding him without bail.
Russ asked the judge to appoint attorney William Avantaggio to his cases, saying Avantaggio was just appointed two months ago to represent him on pending charges of criminal mischief, burglary and violations of conditions of release in Lincoln County.
The judge told Russ to fill out the paperwork for a court-appointed attorney, and the judge also said he would note the request for Avantaggio.
Bail conditions prohibit Russ from contact with the victim and from being on Pike Street in Augusta.
According to the affidavit, Russ knocked on Young’s door, and when no one answered, he walked around to a side door. That door wasn’t locked but an interior door was. Police said Russ removed the Plexiglas window and cut the screen, and then pushed it open with his shoulder.
After the attack on Young, the affidavit said, Russ left the house and headed toward Western Avenue. He hid the frying pan in some bushes near Pizza Hut, then cut across the street and went home.
He was arrested late Tuesday afternoon on charges of robbery, criminal mischief, aggravated assault, burglary, forgery, theft by unlawful taking or transfer and violating conditions of release.
“Kristopher said that he did not intend on hurting anyone but he just flipped out,” the affidavit states. “Kristopher said he was looking for money for his heroin addiction but had no intentions of hurting anyone.”
In addition to the pending charges in Lincoln County and a charge of felony theft in Cumberland County, Russ previously was convicted of burglary in April 2012 in Waldo County and theft in February 2009 in Augusta.