News Photo by Julie Riddle Benjamin Atwater, right, listens to a judge’s verdict in the 26th Circuit Court on Monday.

ALPENA — An early release from probation earned a grateful nod from Benjamin Atwater, an Alpena man arrested in May 2019 for firing a gun toward workers atop the Decorative Panels International plant in Alpena.

After serving a jail sentence and part of his two years’ probation, Atwater — who pleaded no contest to assault with a weapon in January 2020 — requested on Monday in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court to be freed from terms of probation so he can leave the state to pursue his employment.

Atwater has done well under court-mandated mental health treatment, and the depressive disorder from which he suffered at the time of the shooting seems to be in full remission, according to probation officer Dan Weaver.

Judge Benjamin Bolser agreed to release Atwater from probation, to which Atwater responded with a sigh of relief and a word of thanks to his attorney.

The charges against Atwater, who lives adjacent to the DPI property, stemmed from a May 12, 2019 incident in which he allegedly fired multiple shots from a 9-millimeter handgun toward workers cleaning a roof vent at DPI, requiring the use of vacuums running at a very high volume.

***

Also in court on Monday, health concerns weren’t enough to buy freedom for a man facing his sixth drunk driving offense.

Robert Bygden, in court for sentencing before Judge Ed Black, told the judge through his attorney that he has several serious health issues that were a problem for the jail to manage the last time he was incarcerated.

Bygden was arrested in June for driving a moped while drunk. He doesn’t have a valid driver’s license, but, when he drinks, he drives, Bygden told the judge.

Despite defense attorney Joel Bauer’s request that the judge consider a lesser sentence in deference to the defendant’s health issues, Black sentenced Bygden to a year in jail, with medical furloughs at the discretion of the sheriff.

Bygden, Black said, “looks like a guy who drives a moped because he doesn’t care because he feels like nobody’s going to throw him in prison because he’s got medical issues.”

In addition to jail time, Bygden will wear a tether upon release, serve two years’ probation, attend sobriety meetings, and perform 480 hours of community service.

“I have to do something to make it so that you don’t want to do this again,” Black told the defendant, promising that, if Bydgen offends again, prison is the next step.

Bygden might be eligible for drug court, which would keep him out of jail and help him get sober, Black said — “but he has to be the one to do it.”