GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — A man, who allegedly vandalized a church, left firecrackers around it and then threatened two parishioners, was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail but received credit for the 302 days he already served.
A judge also ordered Anthony Lee Wabindato to serve two years of probation and pay $3,690 in fines.
In September, Wabindato pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, a count of resisting or obstructing police and a count of malicious destruction of property between $1,000 and $20,000.
In December, he was arrested at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Catholic Parish in Grand Haven. Authorities say he went into the church before Mass and vandalized it, breaking a TV, and left firecrackers around the inside and outside of the building. The firecrackers were never lit.
In a previous court hearing, a detective told a judge that Wabindato wasn’t wearing a shirt or shoes at the time of the incident. He testified Wabindato told two parishioners that he would kill them with a stick from a chair he broke.
He allegedly attacked one of the workers, who fought him off, but was OK. When police arrived, Wabindato also allegedly threatened them. They used a Taser on him.
His mother previously told News 8 he has a history of mental health problems and using meth. Officers who responded to the church said they thought he was under the influence of something.