LEBANON — A 37-year-old Upper Valley man who was charged in a hammer attack this spring has been arrested for the third time this year after police said he tried to flee from them when they approached him for loitering outside of Kilton Library in West Lebanon.
Shawn Mooney was charged on Wednesday with 13 misdemeanor counts — including nine for breech of bail — after he was observed outside the library at around 10 p.m., Lebanon police said in news release.
He was ordered held without bail in Lebanon District Court on Thursday.
At the time of Wednesday’s alleged incident, Mooney, whose last known town of residence was Canaan but previously has resided in Stoddard, N.H., and Bennington, N.H., was on personal recognizance release in connection with back-to-back arrests and criminal charges in March.
Mooney’s release conditions on the March incidents barred him from entering Grafton County.
On Wednesday, Mooney was outside Kilton Library well after closing time. When officers “made contact” with him, they discovered he had a warrant out for his arrest in New Hampshire for failing to register as a sex offender, according to the Lebanon Police news release.
But when police informed Mooney they were placing him under arrest, he resisted and a “physical altercation” occurred in which Mooney assaulted one of the officers, police said. That officer’s injuries required treatment at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Mooney also was transported to DHMC, where he “continued to be combative and assaulted” a second Lebanon officer in addition to hospital staff, the news release said.
Mooney has an extensive criminal record and history of resisting arrest and being combative with officers on multiple occasions, according to Lebanon police.
In March, Mooney was charged with failure to register as a sex offender and was out on bail when police alleged he attacked two residents — one man with a blow to the head with a hammer — at Lebanon’s seasonal homeless shelter where Mooney had also been staying.
He was released on bail April 28 under conditions that he not be in Grafton County except for special circumstances and to abide an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
In his decision this week ordering Mooney detained, Lebanon District Court Judge Michael Mace wrote that the state “once again proved by a clear and convincing evidence (Mooney) is a danger to the public and himself,” adding that Mooney’s “patent dangerousness, his failure to appear and inability to follow bail orders also counsel against any form of release.”
Among Mooney’s record of criminal convictions are two for sexual assault against a female minor in 2014, according to the state’s online registry of sex offenders.
In 2018, in an incident that was echoed in this week’s arrest at Kilton Library, Mooney was charged with attacking a Lebanon police officer before fleeing on foot into a marshy area behind Walmart in West Lebanon. In both incidents, Mooney had outstanding warrants for his arrest on prior charges and attempted to flee when approached by officers and then scuffling with them during apprehension.
CORRECTION: Shawn Mooney was ordered held without bail in Lebanon District Court on Thursday. A previous version of this story included an incorrect court name.