Apr. 14—BOWMAN, N.D. — A man from Bowman was arrested and charged for his alleged digging up of a grave at the Bowman Cemetery. The incident was reported by the deceased individual's family on Easter Sunday.

According to the Bowman Police Department, the family discovered the grave site had been tampered with and reported it to police. Responding investigators found a five-foot-long and three-foot-wide hole, with about a foot depth dug into a decades-old marked grave. Further, police located several scattered hand tools around the area.

The Bowman Police Department launched an investigation into the incident, discovering that additional objects which had been placed at the gravesite in honor of the deceased were also missing. According to police, a suspect was identified early in the investigation and after a thorough review of the evidence, led to the arrest of Anthony Jo Partida-Breen, 38, of Bowman.

Partida-Breen was subsequently charged with a Class C Felony under North Dakota Century Code for violating the protection of human burial sites, human remains and burial goods. According to court records this latest incident joins a long series of arrests for Partida-Breen dating back to 2002. The lengthy criminal history contains numerous misdemeanor charges across multiple North Dakota counties, and are mostly related to drugs and alcohol.

According to individuals familiar with Partida-Breen, he has mental health issues and needs psychiatric help.

As the Regional Director at Badlands Human Service Center in Dickinson, Jessica Odermann is a leader in the ongoing struggles to address mental health issues in southwest North Dakota. During a panel discussion on issues facing the western portions of the state last year, Odermann said the lack of hospital beds for in-patient psychiatric care has gone from concerning to outright problematic.

Police transported Partida-Breen to the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center in Dickinson, where he is being held without bond. In a public statement, Bowman Police Chief Charles R. Headley said his concerns were on the privacy of the family of the deceased.

"The deceased names will not be released by our agency, out of respect to the families privacy over this shocking event," he said.

If convicted of the Class C Felony, Partida-Breen could face up to 5 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

The Bowman Police Department took the decision to disable the comments section on their social media post about the incident to prevent "cruel and demeaning comments" towards both the family and the suspect. The department has requested the community's cooperation in respecting the privacy of everyone involved in this incident.