NORTHAMPTON – A Northampton man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he punched a man with disabilities and threatened to burn down the man’s home.
Donald P. Renkowicz, 55, of 739 Florence Road, was arraigned in Northampton District Court on charges of assault and battery on a disabled person with injury, intimidating a witness and threatening to commit a crime.
Northampton Police were called to Meadow Street Thursday shortly after 8 p.m. for a report of an assault that had just occurred.
The alleged victim, a 38-year-old man with developmental disabilities, had a swollen upper lip and small cuts on his face when officers arrived, according to a report by Northampton Officer Heather Longley.
The man told police that a man named “Don” had punched in him in the face five times and threatened to burn down his house if he went to the police, Longley wrote.
Both the man and his mother “expressed a genuine concern for their safety and thought Renkowicz would come burn their house down,” Longley wrote.
Police attempted to locate Renkowicz at his camp site down a dirt path along Meadow Street but did not find him that evening. Renkowicz was arrested on a warrant on Friday.
Before his arraignment Monday morning, Renkowicz was released on $500 bail.
The man and his mother were in court Monday to extend a temporary restraining order that had been issued over the weekend following the incident.
Renkowicz was ordered to stay away from the man and abide by the conditions of the extended restraining order.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettnet.com.