Man blames mushrooms for felonies

A Park County man said mushrooms clouded his memory of breaking into a stranger’s home, taking off his clothes and assaulting a child.

In Sixth Judicial District Court on Monday, Garrett Douglas Genescritti, 28, pleaded guilty to burglary, criminal mischief and assault on a minor, all felonies. Prosecutors agreed to drop several other charges, most of them misdemeanors, in exchange for his guilty plea.

Prosecutors say that one evening in March 2011, Genescritti burst through the door of a Mill Creek-area home where a woman was watching TV with her children, ages 1 and 3. Genescritti took off his clothing in front of them and at one point grabbed the 3-year-old boy by his head and threatened to gouge out the child’s eyes, according to court documents.

The mother was able to call 911 and her husband. She and the children eventually fled the house and her husband soon arrived at the home, according to court documents.

Genescritti initially faced an attempted theft charge based on allegations that he ran through a glass door and toward the husband’s truck before launching himself into the back of the vehicle, court papers state. The husband abandoned the truck, at which point Genescritti allegedly drove off in it before crashing through several fences. The attempted theft charge, though, is slated to be dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

“My memory is very vague from that night,” Genescritti said in court Monday. “Honestly, I was on some mushrooms that night and I blacked out and don’t remember.”

Judge Nels Swandal asked if Genescritti had tried mushrooms prior to the incident. Genescritti replied that he used mushrooms in the past.

“They were always good experiences before,” he said.

“I guess that depends how you define good,” Swandal said.

Genescritti will be sentenced at a later point.