York business owner accused of sending racist texts, withholding pay from South Portland man
The Office of the Maine Attorney General said Tuesday that it has filed a civil rights injunction against Alexander Treshinsky, 35, after he allegedly sent more than a dozen texts and voicemails "containing racist and anti-immigrant invective and threats of violence against" a man and his family.
The state argues his actions violate the Maine Civil Rights Act. Neither the victim nor Treshinsky's business were named in court records.
Treshinsky has also been criminally charged in York County Superior Court on one count each of harassment by telephone and criminal threatening. Treshinsky has pleaded not guilty to those charges, according to a court clerk.
It was not immediately clear if those charges were tied to the same allegations. A criminal defense attorney for Treshinsky did not respond to a message seeking to discuss the case Tuesday afternoon.
A lawyer representing Treshinsky in the civil case said they have "no comment on this matter other than Alex has retained counsel and is asserting his due process rights in the appropriate court venue."
The attorney general's office described the victim in the civil case as a 35-year-old South Portland resident who immigrated to Maine from the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to court records.
After Treshinsky hired him to fix and install new flooring at his business, the attorney general's office said, the man asked Treshinsky in November to pay him roughly $1,140.
Instead, the attorney general's office describes a dozen texts Treshinsky sent in response, including pictures of genitalia and threats to assault the man's daughter. They said Treshinsky also left the victim a voicemail, mimicking his accented English.
"Get the (expletive) out of business in America. I will be your worst enemy until you are gone," one text said, according to the complaint.
"Understand ... you have a (expletive) enemy now. I will follow you until the end of the (expletive) earth until you fall off it."
These messages have scared the man and his family, according to the attorney general's office.
"The Defendant has intentionally interfered with the victim's right to engage in lawful activities without being subject to threats of physical force or violence based on the Defendant's bias against the victim's race, color, or national origin," the attorney general's office wrote.
Treshinsky still hasn't paid him, the AG's office said.
If the civil rights injunction is granted, Treshinsky will be barred from contacting or threatening the victim (and pay $5,000 per violation). Treshinsky would also face a new Class D charge for violating an injunction and, at most, up to a year behind bars.
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