Contributed Photo: This picture was taken a few months ago. Derik Yentsch was booked into jail for trespassing and disorderly conduct after receiving medical treatment from being struck by a rifle.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A man possibly hallucinating on methamphetamine got a rude awakening early Monday morning when he wandered into a neighbor’s property and ended up going to the hospital after being beaten with a rifle.
Derik Cole Yentsch, 39, of Safford, was arrested and booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on charges of trespassing and two counts of disorderly conduct. He was booked after being treated and medically cleared from the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center.
Deputies were initially dispatched at about 2:45 a.m. to a residence on E. Busby Drive regarding a burglary call. While en route, a deputy was advised that the suspect had been subdued and was bleeding on the ground in the front yard.
When asked why he entered the house, Yentsch allegedly said he went for a walk to look for his brother and felt he might be in the victim’s residence. Yentsch also told a deputy that he had used crystal methamphetamine that day.
Yentsch said he entered the residence through the front door and sat on the floor and the couch. When asked what happened when he was confronted by the resident, Yentsch allegedly said, “I attacked him.”
The victim told a deputy that he was getting ready for work when he heard his front door open and close. He then heard a male screaming and saw a man whom he did not know sitting on his couch. He asked the man, later identified as Yentsch, who he was and Yentsch allegedly replied that he was the “dog killer.”
The resident then told Yentsch to get out of his house and Yentsch complied. The man then retrieved his Highpoint 9-mm carbine rifle and followed outside, where he said he saw Yentsch attempt to enter his relative’s vehicle.
The resident said he told Yentsch to leave three times and then chambered a round in his rifle. Yentsch was reportedly 10 to 15 feet away but decided to charge at the resident with his hands balled into fists, according to the resident’s statements to police.
Instead of shooting him, however, the resident turned his rifle around, used it as a bat, and struck Yentsch in his torso, knocking him to the ground. Yentsch again charged, however, and this time the resident struck Yentsch in his head with the butt of the rifle and then two more times in the torso area.
Two of the resident’s cousins who live nearby heard the commotion and responded. They then held Yentsch at bay by telling him to stay where he was until police arrived. The resident advised he had two young children asleep in the home during the altercation, but that Yentsch did not approach their room.
After roughly three hours at the hospital, Yentsch was discharged with stitches for a laceration on the right side of his forehead. He was then transported to the jail and booked on the above-listed charges.
