Man acquitted of defacing WWI statue

Attacked ‘false idol,’ he told police; judge cites defendant’s mental health

A homeless man who said he used a wooden cross to smash the face of a World War I statue in Eureka Springs has been acquitted on the grounds of mental disease or defect.

Dustin Curtis Doak, 37, previously of Springdale, told Eureka Springs police the doughboy statue in Basin Spring Park was a “false idol” that people were worshipping.

Police found surveillance video from the night of Sept. 23 in which they could see someone with long blond hair and a beard, wearing a robe, climb the 11-foot-tall marble statue and strike its face numerous times, causing the nose and other parts to break away. Police identified the suspect as Doak.

Doak was charged with defacing an object of public respect under Arkansas Code Annotated §5-71-215.

On June 30, Doak was examined by a Fayetteville psychologist who diagnosed him with Schizophrenia.

On Wednesday, Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson acquitted Doak.

“This Court finds that at the time of the offense, the Defendant lacked the capacity, as a result of mental disease or defect, to conform his/her conduct to the requirements of the law or to appreciate the criminality of his/her conduct,” according to the order filed Wednesday in circuit court.

Jackson ordered that Doak be committed to the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services for further examination by a psychiatrist or licensed psychologist.

Scott Miskiel, city parks director, estimated the cost to repair the statue will be about $4,500, according to the police report.

Reached by telephone on Wednesday, Miskiel said the repairs were completed two or three months ago. He said the cost was at least $4,500, but he was traveling and did not have the numbers in front of him.

“We were able to take some pieces that were on the ground, and he was able to reattach those,” said Miskiel.

People apparently took other pieces as souvenirs, so those parts had to reconstructed. Miskiel said the repair work took several months.

Mayor Robert “Butch” Berry said that about $20,000 was spent a few years ago to restore the statue and base.

The statue was placed in the park in 1929, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.