Mental health exam was given, SCCC chief says

Christopher E. Wentworth

The coordinator of Strafford County Community Corrections said on Wednesday that there is absolutely no way that the man charged in last month’s Hannaford parking lot melee would have been released prior to a court-ordered mental health examination as a subordinate had indicated earlier this week.

Carrie Lover added that it is possible, however, that he may have been released by a mental health or substance abuse counselor without seeing the department’s psychiatrist, who only normally visits the agency to interview applicants to the program once a week.

Christopher E. Wentworth, 43, of 82 Chestnut Hill Road, Rochester, was arrested on Oct. 15 in connection with several felony-level assaults alleged to have occurred outside the Milton Road Hannaford at the Lilac Mall.

The next day his bail was set at $10,000 cash to be converted to personal recognizance after acceptance into the Strafford County Community Corrections Program and pending a mental health evaluation.

Wentworth was released soon after and two days later, on Friday, Oct. 18, he is alleged to have stolen an F-350 Ford truck and led Candia (NH) police on a high-speed nighttime chase after being stopped for speeding, turning his lights off during the pursuit.

Wentworth was charged with Receiving Stolen Property, a felony, and disobeying a police officer and transferred to the Rockingham County Jail. After his arraignment at Rochester District Court on Oct. 28 on the Hannaford charges, he was remanded to the Strafford County Jail where he remains today on $10,000 cash bail.

While Lover can’t comment specifically on Wentworth’s case due to privacy laws, she did say that it is possible that a counselor may have given the OK for Wentworth’s initial release after bail was set on the Hannaford charges on Oct. 16.

She did reiterate that this time around after the Candia charges, Wentworth will be evaluated by the department’s psychiatrist, who works on a per diem basis.

Lover explained that any one of several staffers at Strafford County Community Corrections is qualified to administer a mental health examination. It can be done by a registered nurse, a mental health counselor, a substance abuse counselor or the psychiatrist. She said every individual case is different and is treated differently with the appropriate personnel utilized depending on the circumstances.

Wentworth, an Iraq War veteran, was diagnosed with PTSD a little over a year ago and has been living on a disability pension, according to his mother who asked not to be identified.