Steamboat Pilot & Today

Jared Wayne Maynard was charged Friday with second-degree assault for spitting in the face of a jail officer.

The incident happened Thursday after Maynard heard a judge sentence him to 18 months in prison for stealing an ambulance and assaulting a paramedic.

Maynard spit in Lt. Fred Johnston's face as the jail supervisor was attempting to escort the 20-year-old man from the courtroom.

"The message is that you can't do what he did and get away with it," Johnston said.

Maynard was brought into county court on Friday in a black, mesh hood that covered his face and fastened around his neck. He was wearing a long-sleeved, gray sweatshirt, but the sleeves swung free. The shirt covered restraints that appeared to have his hands shackled behind his back.

Maynard sat among four other men in court and quietly waited to hear his charge. Two deputies stood an arm's length away wearing blue rubber gloves. Johnston also was near Maynard, wearing rubber gloves. Since Maynard is a known drug user, Routt County Sheriff John Warner said, authorities were concerned about contracting a disease from him if he chose to spit again.

"That puts us on a heightened alert," Warner said.

Warner will ask Maynard to give a blood test to check for diseases. If he refuses, the sheriff will ask the court to legally force Maynard to give up some blood. Maynard only shook his head no when Judge James Garrecht ask if he had any questions Friday. He did not speak while in court or make any attempt to resist the deputies.

Maynard was attending Colorado Mountain College when the ambulance incident occurred in August. Late at night, an intoxicated Maynard jumped into the driver's seat of an ambulance that had responded to CMC. Paramedic Jeanne Power was treating a man in the back of the ambulance when Maynard started the joy ride. Maynard grabbed Powers by the neck and pinned her against the dashboard when she tried to stop him. Powers managed to stop the vehicle by shifting it into park.

During Maynard's initial sentencing hearing, his father, William, told the court about his son's struggle in his upbringing that included a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity and depression. As he got older, Maynard turned to drugs and alcohol, his father said.

"On behalf of my son and myself I would like to apologize for the actions of my son," said the elder Maynard, who travelled from Houston.

Maynard will return to court at 1 p.m. on Nov. 8 to respond to the assault charge from the spitting incident. Second-degree assault is a class-five felony and could add more time onto Maynard's 18-months in prison, Warner said.

"I've been here since 1980," Garrecht said to Warner, speaking frankly after Maynard was taken away. "The is the first time I've ever seen someone brought over in a mask."

To reach Doug Crowl call 871-4206

or e-mail dcrowl@amigo.net