Homeless Hoedown

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 Homeless shelter for one, woods off University Drive
While thankfully there were no arrests last night at the "Celebrate Amherst Block Party" for noise, nuisance or disturbing the peace, one of the usual suspects -- Maurice St Onge -- was arrested for open container violation while consuming "Five O'Clock Vodka" at 7:49 PM on North Pleasant street, in town center, at around peak attendance time for the family oriented block party.

This is precisely why Town Manager John Musante was leaning towards forbidding Craig's Doors, the homeless shelter at the Baptist Church, to increase capacity by 50%, going from 16 beds to 24.

His bosses, the Select Board, have publicly all-but-ordered him to allow the expansion ... not to micromanage of course.  Pretty safe bet Mr. Musante will not wish to jeopardize his $142,100 position over a homeless shelter. 

The B-I-G difference between Amherst's homeless shelter and all other regional facilities is that Craig's Doors is a "wet shelter," meaning folks can still attend even if under the influence of drugs.

Which is kind of like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting trying to increase attendance by hosting meetings next to a bar.


APD gets calls when the homeless are overly aggressive about occupying benches in town

A Toast To Survival

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Camperdown Elm, Amherst College Pratt Field
Friends, neighbors, Amherst College faculty, Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee members and a couple of long-time columnists for the Daily Hampshire Gazette gathered round the historic Camperdown Elm on Pratt Field Amherst College yesterday and raised a glass of champagne to celebrate a reversal of the pernicious plan to kill the Camperdown. 

Instead, Amherst College will pay -- or I should say an "anonymous benefactor" will cover -- the $100,000 relocation cost to move the iconic beauty out of harm's way:  the $12.5 million major renovation of 122 year old Pratt Field.


A realignment of the track directly intersected with the plot of earth the stately tree has occupied, probably since Pratt Field was founded in 1891, and if not for the great concern of arbor aficionados the Camperdown was destined to become kindling.

Since this photo was taken in late July, Amherst College has enclosed the Camperdown with fencing to protect its roots, trimmed it, and is being extra careful with watering and fertilizer

Meadow Street Mayhem

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 Debris field Townhouse Apartments Meadow Street North Amherst
It's not even dark and already APD has responded in force to a large unruly gathering of students in the quad area of Townhouse Apartments North Amherst breaking up a crowd of 2,000 around 4:00 PM and then an hour later called back because they party goers returned and set fire to a couch in the middle of the quad.  Officers had to dodge bottles and cans launched in their direction.

The festivities also required an AFD response for the burning couch, thus tying up both branches of our emergency first responders. Townhouse units #48, #51, #44, #104, and #125 were cited for "nuisance house" @ $300 each.

And yes, Saturday was "UMass UMake a difference day," where 200 UMass students volunteered to help clean up around Amherst.  “We are trying to show people what UMass is really like,” said Garrett Gowen, SGA vice president in the Daily Collegian.

Obviously the kids at Townhouse Apartments did not get that text message.

Arrested for Inciting a Riot:
Clyde Odei Nsiah, 72 Outlook Dr, Worcester, MA, age 23 (UMass student)


Tough guy in red hat refused to provide ID
AFD taking no chances. Hosing down nearby dumpster 

Let's get Physical

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 45 Phillips Street
Student rowdyism escalated yet another notch late last night as Amherst Police officers had to physically defend themselves against combative college aged youth jet-fueled by alcohol, a danger to innocent bystanders, first responders and themselves.

Last week two drunk students unabashedly fighting in a downtown restaurant got physical with a female Amherst police officer who was attempting to break it up, and early this morning the violent response to APD officers continued unabated.

Around 12:30 AM an officer noticed a disturbance at 45 Phillips Street with about 20-30 males on the front porch yelling and throwing punches at each other.  In trying to break up the melee one of the perps "attempted to free his friend" from the cops hold and had to be pinned against a fence and placed under arrest.:


Officers later cited the house, owned by Stephan Gharabegian, with a $300 ticket for violation of the town's Nuisance House Bylaw.

Arrested for Disorderly Conduct and possession of liquor under age 21:

Kevin John Defusco, 5 Depot Road, Westford, MA, age 19  (UMass student)

Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane  Around 2:00 AM police were called to Hobart Lane apartment #26 Gilreath Manor for reports of a fight involving ten individuals.  In breaking up the disturbance an officer was hit with pepper spray and required a response from AFD to rinse his eyes.

Arrested for Assault & Battery on a police officer, A&B with a dangerous weapon (pepper spray), Resisting Arrest, and Disorderly Conduct:

James M Robinson, 10 Truman Circle, Springfield, MA, age 19   (UMass student)

Around 2:45 AM police responded to 15/17 Fearing Street for reports of a "highly ETOH" (drunk) individual "throwing bottles at people."

 15 Fearing Street    (managed by Kendrick Management)
The responding officer was greeted by a dozen young men on the front porch who stated Jonathan Jacobs was "going crazy," throwing bottles and other items at them.  Due to his violent behavior they had evacuated the house.  Jacobs was located in his upstairs room but immediately became combative, assaulting one officer with his shoulder and knocking over another.  At APD headquarters he refused to identify himself and was held on $2,500 bail.

Arrested for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (bottles), Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest, A & B on a police officer:

Jonathan Daniel Jacobs, 225 Maryann Way, North Attleborough, MA, age 22  (UMass student)

#####
Meanwhile around 1:15 AM police responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash on Mattoon Street near Amherst Regional High School.  The driver reported swerving to avoid a pedestrian and lost control because of the "wet roads", but an eyewitness had another different version not involving a pedestrian.  The driver was given a field sobriety test and failed. 
Arrested for OUI Liquor and Marked Lanes Violation:Daniel T. Kearney, 21 Wing Rd, Lynnfield, MA, age 21  (UMass student)

#####Sadly, at 1:43 AM, UMass police, APD and AFD responded to a male who fell and hit his head near the Newman Center, UMass.  The first officer on the scene reported the male was on the ground surrounded by friends who confirmed he "had been drinking" and suddenly collapsed, hitting his head.  
AFD transported the unconscious young man to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he is reported to be on a breathing machine in the Critical Care Unit.

UPDATE (Monday afternoon): The young man was released from the hospital Sunday at 2:30 PM.  Let's hope he learned a lesson.

Party House of the Weekend

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 1107 North Pleasant Street, Amherst
In addition to being assaulted with cans, bottles and pepper spray this past weekend, responding Amherst police officers also had to dodge beer poured from the second story of this humble abode just north of campus.

Yes, 1107 North Pleasant street is a repeat offender although the cars in the driveway are different from last year, so probably the perps are also different. Maybe the house is haunted and makes denizens act that way, or perhaps the landlord is lousy at screenting tenants.

Arrested late Friday night for Resisting Arrest and Underage Drinking:
Kyle Edward Darosa, 106 Edgement, Braintree, MA, age 19 (UMass student)

Arrested for Noise and Nuisance House:
Bryan Gudewich, 31 Meadow St, Lowell, MA,  age 21, (UMass student)
Adam Harrington, 21 Michael Ave,  Nashua, NH, age 21, (UMass student)
John Bulman, 7 Laurel Lane, Tyngsborough, MA, age 22, (UMass student)
William Collins, 9 Winter St, Tyngsborough, MA, age 21, (UMass student)

 #####
Another busy weekend for AFD with alcohol or drug overdoses (ETOH) and false alarms from UMass Frats 
AFD Weekend Run Summary 9-28-2012

Fourth Watch

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 Amherst Town Center 1:15 AM  McMurphy's Bar, Antonio's Pizza
Last night -- or I should say early this morning -- all five of our ambulances were busy dealing with ETOH (passed out drunk) students, four police cruisers (probably all the on duty ones we had) were at the scene of a drunk driver who had driven around concrete barricades, up on to active railroad tracts becoming hopelessly stuck ... when a call came in from South Amherst for an "unresponsive baby with difficulty breathing."

 Around Midnight APD dispersed a large crowd of unruly students from Phillips Street
Amherst Fire Department had to send a fire engine from Central Station and wait for one of our ambulances already at the hospital to return back to Amherst, thus causing a delay.  Obviously if our first responders had the personnel and equipment needed they could keep delays to a minimum, increasing both safety and peace of mind.

The last 12 hours should serve as yet another wake up call.  Town officials need to act quickly and decisively.  Our police and fire department's are understaffed.  And somebody is going to die.

Over the past six consecutive years, through sound fiscal management, the town has had an end-of-the-year surplus of just over $1 million.  A quarter of that would go a long way to solving staffing problems with our beleaguered first responders.

Tax exempt UMass, the second largest landowner in town, also needs to step up and help fund the professional providers who react to emergencies their students create.  Ditto Hampshire College.

Alcohol abuse is an epidemic that needs serious attention.  Anyone remember that UMass student motorcyclist  on his way back to campus last April only weeks before he was to graduate, slaughtered by a wrong way drunk driver on Rt 116 in Hadley?  I'm sure his family remembers!

DA Sullivan and State Police need to set up yet another high profile DUI roadblock in town before Halloween.  Senator Stan Rosenberg and Representative Ellen Story should file a bill making it a crime (or at least a civil offense) to be in an automobile with a drunk driver and not report it to authorities.
 Car stuck  on railroad tracks near Amtrak Station
I noticed the passenger of the drunk driver who drove his car onto the rail road tracks checking his smart phone while watching his drunk friend being escorted away.

 Jack Thornton. You drink & drive, you go to jail
Maybe somewhat sober people would think twice about getting in a car with a drunk friend if they knew they could be held responsible. Kind of gives new meaning to the slogan, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk."  And as one of my favorite twitterian's pointed out, "Especially on railroad tracks!"

When I told one of the cops I was live tweeting from the scene early this morning he asked, "Is anybody listening?"  God I hope so.

Arrested for DUI and trespassing on RR property:
Jack Thornton, 23 Bennett Rd, Gardner, MA, age 19

#####
AFD member picked up the slack after I went to bed and posted to Facebook photo of all five Amherst ambulances parked at Cooley Dickinson hospital at 3:00 AM:



####Amherst Fourth Watch live tweeted####

Party Houses of the Wild Weekend

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699 Main Street, Amherst 
Obviously the major disturbance on Saturday afternoon at Townhouse Apartments where "no less than 20 bottles and cans were thrown at officers ..." gets party event of the weekend, but that still did not stop individual houses from vying for the ignominious individual award.

Hard to choose, since two houses in separate parts of town resulted in arrests for noise and/or nuisance, but the denizens of 699 Main Street would beat out 44 McClellan Street by virtue of twice as many arrested,  four vs two.

Arrested for noise around 11:13 PM Saturday night at 699 Main Street:

Robert Scott Macleod II, 26 Russels circle,  Natick, MA, age 21 (UMass student)
Dylan Thomas Merry, 46 Travis Rd, Natick, MA, age 21 (UMass student)
Brian P Wilbur, 702 Main Street, Amherst, MA, age 22 (UMass student)
David Shawn McDonough, 52 Fletcher Rd, Bedford, MA, age 21 (the exception)

 44 McClellan Street, Amherst
And late Friday early Saturday morning a party at 44 McCllelan St with 75-100 noisy guests resulted in the arrest of two:

Raphael Leopold, 44 McClellan St #2, Amherst, MA, age 22 (UMass student)
Alex Patrick Connolly, 10 Stepping Stone Ln, Sandwich, MA, age 21 (UMass student)


 Busy Weekend for AFD Weekend Run Summary 9-14-2012