Is Clinton sex offender central?

I don't think so, but in a comment to the Item regarding a proposed bylaw to restrict where sex offenders can live, Police Chief Mark Laverdure made this stunning claim:

Laverdure said town safety officials had toyed with the idea in the past of writing a bylaw restricting where Level 3 sex offenders could live, based on their proximity to children, but some of those bylaws have been thrown out in other communities.

“Some bylaws, like you can’t live within 150 yards of a school or playground, will generally be approved. But anything too restrictive is not legal,” Laverdure said. “The purpose is to make people aware. Everyone should know that these people are out there. But for every one who is registered, there are probably 50 who are not.” 

What? The article notes that there are five registered level 3 sex offenders in Clinton. By Chief Laverdure's math, there are actually 250 or so serious sex offenders in Clinton. That would be nearly two percent of the entire town's population.

I hope Chief Laverdure was just being inartful. I don't think he means that there are 245 level 3 sex offenders in Clinton who are unregistered. And I hope he's not suggesting that fully two of every 100 residents is a rapist who has continued without apprehension. 

I think he's trying to make the point that everyone needs to be vigilant about the people around them, but boy, that is a damning way to do it.

Pizza as a bribe

I know that police officers are often trained to tack on as many charges as they can when arresting someone. For instance, my brother once hit a patch of wet leaves and skidded across the road into a tree, injuring his shoulder in the crash. He got a ride to the hospital. He was charged with speeding, failure to stay to the right--no kidding--and leaving the scene of an accident. Of course, all but the speeding were thrown out by a rational judge.

But tagging a suspect with bribery for offering a cop a pizza? I'd say that's a little much:

LEOMINSTER -- A Worcester man arrested early Sunday morning in connection with a domestic assault reportedly tried to bribe a Leominster police officer with food, according to court documents.

Niko Sekuj, 21, of 360 June St., Worcester, allegedly tried to get Officer John Fraher Jr. to leave the scene as Fraher was arresting him on several charges, including assault and battery and malicious property damage.

"After I placed handcuffs on Mr. Sekuj ... he stated that he works for local pizza places and if I let him go, 'I'll hook you up' " Fraher wrote in a report. "I then asked him what he wanted me to do, at which time he stated, 'Let me go ... just leave.' "

Although maybe the officer just wanted to get the suspect downtown, where he could leave the door to the jail open so the suspect could run out and bring the pizza straight back to the station.

Tags: Massachusetts Leominster Crime Pizza

Woman urns trip to court

This has to be one of the top ten stories of the year. According to the Telegram and Gazette, a woman broke into her stepfather's house, stole her late mother's ashes from his mantle, and took them on a Caribbean cruise. Now she faces a court date:

EAST BROOKFIELD-- A former Warren resident charged with stealing her mother's cremated remains from her stepfather's home and scattering them on a beach in Aruba turned down a plea agreement yesterday in Western Worcester District Court.

Elena M. Day, 35, of Palmer was charged with receiving stolen property and breaking and entering after her stepfather reported that his wife's remains were missing, and what appeared to be cat box filler and fireplace ashes placed inside the urn he kept at his Main Street home.

OK, so far nothing too special, although the kitty litter is a nice touch. But the story really gets interesting as we find out what evidence the police found.

During his investigation, Officer Chase wrote, he obtained a copy of a DVD with the title "Travel Log of Her Ashes, Memorialized, Judith A. Heier Mann, Her Final Resting Place."

In his report, he wrote that the video, which is just over 10 minutes long, also has a segment called "The Stops Along the Way" and lists Carnival Destiny, San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba.

The video also allegedly shows Ms. Day scattering ashes on a beach described as "Mamok Beach" and ends with a picture of a map marked with an "X."

So the woman took a vacation video of her dead mother's ashes as she cruised the Caribbean? I wonder if she also got those commemorative photos the cruise line sells at each port. Perhaps she came back with a collection of pictures of her, the urn, and a Rastafarian. Or even better, maybe the waitstaff carried the urn around the banquet hall when they did their little song and dance number on formal night. The possibilities are endless.

Oh, and as though the story needed any more, the reporter checked in with someone in the death business to get some ideas of ways this conflict could be avoided:

Susan C. Fraser, executive director and founder of In the Light Urns in Three Rivers, Calif., suggests that one should be sure a trusted family member knows the person's funeral wishes...

Mrs. Fraser said her company sells more "keepsakes" than urns. The keepsakes are a sort of miniature urn, sometimes in the form of a necklace, rosary or key chain. They are filled with a small amount of the ashes and can be carried or worn as a remembrance.

Nice idea, but it's hard to get good video of a key chain.

Tags: Massachusetts Urn Ashes Crime

Rule #1: Pay the babysitter

Rule #2: If the sitter shows up at your house at 4:30 in the morning to trash the place until you pay her, it's probably time for a new sitter:

CLINTON -- A 16-year-old girl faces several charges after allegedly starting a fracas around 4:30 a.m. Sunday because she believed she was owed back pay for babysitting.

The Clinton girl, whose name and address were not released by police because she is a minor, allegedly went to a Franklin Street home early Sunday and demanded the money. The amount was not listed in a police report.

She allegedly kicked in several windows of the house, and when she was refused the babysitting money, the teen allegedly started pushing and shoving a man and a woman. The man told police the teen attacked him. At one point, somebody pulled an electrical meter off the side of the house and the teen allegedly used it as a weapon, according to the police report.

Tires also were slashed, but it is unclear whose car received the damage.

I might have paid to see a crazed 16-year-old girl swinging an electrical meter around in the dark in a fit of rage. As long as she didn't slash my tires.

I hope the family had a baby cam. They might want to go back and look at the tape. They also might want to look into hiring a new sitter. And paying the girl on time.

Tags: Clinton Crime Massachusetts Child Care

Who kicks a man over $35 in meat?

Every once in a while you come across one of those heartwarming stories where a little old shop owner turns the tables on a thief and puts him in his place. That's what I thought I was going to see when I read this headline in today's Sentinel and Enterprise:

Police: Store manager kicked thief in face

But then I read the story and found out this was not quite the warm fuzzy story I was expecting:

FITCHBURG -- A Market Basket manager faces a felony charge for allegedly kicking a repeat shoplifter in the face, according to police.

William Clark, 31, is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (his shoe) for allegedly kicking Eric J. Casson, 20, of 161 West St., after police placed Casson under arrest, according to court documents. Officers struggled with Casson, finally getting him on the ground and in handcuffs, according to police.

"(Casson) had already been handcuffed and was in a prone position when (Clark) kicked him," officer Keith Bourne wrote in a statement of facts filed in Fitchburg District Court.

Wait, wait, wait...so the manager of the store kicked the alleged thief in the mug while the police pinned the cuffed man on the floor? Did the guy think this was some sort of TV show where the police would be OK with this?

So I imagine that Mr. Clark must have had a good reason to kick the guy. This burglar must be a real bad man:

Employees watched as Casson and Lapointe allegedly took approximately $35 in meat, Fossa said. Casson took beef while Lapointe took pork, Fossa said.

The thief got a shoe in his mug over $35 worth of meat? Who kicks a defenseless man in the face over $35 of meat? There isn't a whole lot that will cause me to sympathize with shoplifters, but that seems to be a bit much.

And now the store manager is facing felony assault charges while the meat snatchers are are off with a fairly minor shoplifting charge.

Tags: Massachusetts Fitchburg Crime Meat

Could the arson at Mary's house have been prevented?

It looks like the police may have found the two men who destroyed the childhood home of Mary Sawyer, the subject of the poem "Mary had a Little Lamb." In fact, it looks like the authorities have had their eyes on these two for a while:

ORANGE-- Two Clinton men charged with setting a fire last month that destroyed a paper mill warehouse in Erving -- men whom police had tracked for the last month via satellite -- are considered "subjects of interest" in a fire in Sterling last week that destroyed the birthplace of the woman made famous by the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb."....

Holden Police Chief George R. Sherrill said the men may be connected to a barn fire Aug. 13 in his town and to a fire on Aug. 12 that destroyed the birthplace of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer at 108 Maple St. in Sterling....

Mr. Dreslinski and Mr. Rousseau’s involvement with the Erving fire may have been discovered through a global positioning system surreptitiously installed by police in Mr. Dreslinski’s 2006 Ford Ranger truck on July 19 by court order.

So if these guys set the Erving mill on fire on July 30 as is alleged, and there was enough concern over their behavior that a court ordered them to be tracked by a homing device, why did it take three weeks to apprehend them? If these suspects are in fact responsible for the fire at the Sawyer house, it seems that it could have been prevented by a little bit quicker action.

But I have to remind myself that the police probably were busy with other things as well. I have this picture in my head from watching so many TV shows of a police task force standing around a wall-sized map of the state watching a little red dot race around the map and calling all units to apprehend the little red dot. The reality is probably more like one guy behind a desk looking at the data after a report of suspicious activity comes into the office.

Either way, it seems like a missed opportunity.

Tags: Massachusetts Sterling Crime Arson 01564

"Little Lamb" house destroyed by arson

One of Sterling's landmark sites was burned to the ground Sunday morning. According to the Telegram and Gazette, the home of Mary Sawyer, the girl described in "Mary Had a Little Lamb," was destroyed in a suspicious blaze:

STERLING-- The birthplace of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, the girl who became famous for bringing her lamb to school in the poem, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," has been destroyed by fire.

Fire officials are calling it arson.

About 4:30 Sunday morning, the Fire Department received a phone call from a neighbor saying the house at 108 Maple St. was in flames. Firefighters arrived to find the house -- in which no one has lived for about 18 years -- engulfed in flames.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office, as well as Sterling police and fire investigators.

It's a disgrace that someone would torch what is probably our town's proudest historic site (To give you an idea of how important the poem is to Sterling's identity, we have a bronze statue of the lamb on the town green).

There is a $5,000 reward for info leading to an arrest. Hopefully that will be money well spent.

Tags: Massachusetts Sterling Crime Arson 01564

Crimefighting tip #1: Lock the jail door

Remember the ongoing gag on the Andy Griffith Show, where they would leave the door to the lockup open so Otis the town drunk could let himself in to sober up? Not only do the Leominster police remember it, they practice it.

Last weekend a prisoner escaped his holding cell because the officer who threw him in the clink left the door unlocked! The Telegram and Gazette provides the details:

LEOMINSTER-- A Wilmington woman called police Sunday afternoon saying her brother had just telephoned to tell her he had escaped from the lockup at Leominster police headquarters.

The dispatcher who took the call apparently didn't believe her and told her the bail for her brother was still $540, according to police reports.

But a subsequent check of the cell block proved that Joseph Kweedor, 23, of 158 Middle St., had indeed escaped.

That's fantastic! The guy escapes, his sister calls the cops to tell them that he's escaped (pretty tough when your sister tries to turn you in) , and they tell her to pay $540 or take a hike.

Officer Jerome Moore wrote in his report on the case that he had gone to Mr. Kweedor's cell at 2 p.m. Sunday to let him make a telephone call. He returned him to the cell after the call was made, he wrote.

"It is apparent the door did not close and lock," he wrote. "Mr. Kweedor opened the door and exited the lockup via an open window (minus the screen) and lowered himself to the ground."

When police determined almost two hours later that Mr. Kweedor had left, officers searched the area of the station and began calling members of Mr. Kweedor's family.

"It is apparent the door did not close and lock" should probably be more correctly reported as "It is apparent that I did not close and lock the door." But who wants to take responsibility for letting a violent suspect escape when you can blame the door?

And it took them two hours to realize that he was gone? Did the guy rig up a decoy like escapees from Alcatraz? And now, the suspect is in more trouble.

He was ordered held on $7,500 cash bail in connection with the charges Saturday, and $100 cash bail was set on a single count of escape from a municipal lockup.

Is it really fair to charge someone with "escape from a municipal lockup" when he was not, in fact, locked up?

Tags: Massachusetts Leominster Crime

Southern Michigan Travel Journal -- Too hot for Bob Evans

So, I'm in Southern Michigan on business for a couple of days, and to pass the time and to deal with the boredom, I present the "Southern Michigan Travel Journal." I'm sure this will be thrilling…

Destination City, 10:20 pm
It is still brutally hot here. You know it's hot when Bob Evans' restaurant is the scene of police action, as it was a few moments ago. I went out to the store to get some Diet Coke and some Pringles, and on the way back to the hotel, three police cars pulled into Bob Evans and there were people out back pointing and shouting. It's a Bob Evans people! It's got to be about the safest place in the world. I mean, who's going to get pissed off enough to shoot someone at a Bob Evans?

As an aside, I don't know what it is, but the only time I ever eat Pringles is when I'm traveling. If I'm on a long drive or staying in a hotel, I'll munch on a tube of Pringles. The other 350 days of the year are Pringles-free.

Tags: Bob Evans Crime Michigan Travel

Local journalist assaulted, unharmed

This doesn't quite belong up there with the intimidation that some journalists face in other parts of the world, but still, when the editor of a local newspaper is assaulted at an area seniors' meeting, it's worth noting:

After taking a few photos of bargain hunters browsing (see innocent bystanders in photo), I interviewed one of the dissenters...Behind us, someone started shouting. One of the club members was yelling, others joined in. Next thing I knew I was in the middle of a geriatric brawl....

“Are you recording what we’re saying? He’s recording us!” one fired up member on the porch shouted. Apparently, this is the Lancaster equivalent of yelling “gun!” at a political rally. Actually, I’d shut the recorder off just after the shouting match in the hall. Bearing no concern for her own safety, this septuagenarian leapt forward, grabbed the weapon (voice recorder) with one hand, my arm with the other and struggled to wrestle it from my steely grasp. Not wanting to get into fisticuffs with gram, I let go. With her prize in hand, she scurried back through the door, protecting the device like a football player guarding the ball while running for that 30-yard touchdown...

And that's the difference between Lancaster and Leominster. In Lancaster you get beaten by little old ladies, in Leominster you get shot at.

Tags: Massachusetts Lancaster Crime

Friday was a good day...I didn't get shot

Friday, I got sent home from work early so I could beat the storm, went with the baby to a local animal shelter to look at puppies, and got in and out of Leominster without getting shot. I can't think of a better day.

Something tells me that folks in town won't be so lucky one of these days. There was another shooting in the South End Wednesday night. Again, no one was hurt:

For the third time in three months, shots have been fired at the Litchfield Terrace apartment complex. The latest incident, Tuesday night, occurred when a private security guard was on the site....

Shots also were fired outside an apartment building in the complex in February, and there was a report of a drive-by shooting in January, when three bullets hit a car.

After the February shooting, a few residents told reporters they were worried for their safety. One woman said she hadn’t seen security guards there for several months.

Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella heard from residents as well. He said yesterday police have added patrols at the complex. Police are at the complex on foot and in cruisers, he said.

You mean the mall security rent-a-cop on duty wasn't enough to keep a gunman from peppering a passing car with 10 shots? I could have told you that:

After three shootings, the mayor's first thought is that an extra mall rent-a-cop or two are going to make a difference? The last shooting occurred when a maintenance man tried to foil a break-in (also in "broad daylight."). Does [Mayor Mazzarella] really think that a guy with a flashlight, a badge, and a walkie-talkie is going to keep this from happening?

The mayor and city council have talked about the effect new meal taxes could have on business. Maybe they should spend more time worrying about what will happen to business as people become more and more afraid to come to town to shop and eat out.

Tags: Massachusetts Leominster crime