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ATHOL — On Wednesday, July 6, at 10:46 a.m., Officer Alexander Griffin was dispatched to the Athol Credit Union on 513 Main Street following a report of a man screaming at people as they were approaching the ATM.
According to Officer Griffin’s Narrative for the incident, dispatch said that man was dressed in a gray sweatshirt, blue pants and was heading toward the YMCA.
After locating the man – later identified as Josiah White, 37, of Athol – in the YMCA parking lot, Officer Griffin said he parked, got out of his cruiser, and asked him “how he was doing.”
According to Officer Griffin’s Narrative, White turned to him and yelled “get the f*ck away from me,” before hightailing it down School Street and up toward Cottage Street.
Officer Griffin called Officer Erick Fredette to the scene while following White in his cruiser. Once White reached the School Street area, Officer Griffin said he exited his cruiser in an attempt to speak with White, who turned around and ran back down School Street in the direction of Main Street.
According to Officer Griffin’s Narrative, he returned to his cruiser and followed White to Main Street where he “obstructed traffic” and “drew out crowds from Town Hall, Kellie’s Diner and other businesses” along the street.
By this time, Officer Fredette had arrived on scene. Both officers then chased White across Main Street, catching up to him on the front lawn of Town Hall.
“Josiah was yelling at both Officer Griffin and Officer Fredette to ‘get the f*ck back and away from him,’” wrote Officer Griffin in his Narrative. “Officer Griffin grabbed Josiah’s right arm, taking his arm and bringing him to the ground. When Officer Griffin grabbed onto Josiah’s arm, he did immediately tense up, trying to pull under his body behind his back as he was being placed under arrest. Josiah was placed in the back seat of marked cruiser 21-2 and transported to Athol Police Department and booked by Officer Griffin and Officer Fredette without incident.”
White was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing the Peace. He was released on his own personal recognizance without bail under the condition that he attend his arraignment on July 8, which he did.
A status hearing will be held regarding White’s arrest on September 9. Judge Laurie MacLeod waived White’s presence at the status hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from July, that’s because I had to file a FOIA request to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
