Connor Schoonover's mugshot
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LEOMINSTER – On Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 1:53 p.m., Officer Carlos Cintron of the Leominster Police Department responded to Miles Automotive on 509 Main Street following a report of a disturbance from the garage manager.
According to Officer Cintron’s Narrative for the incident, when he arrived on scene, the situation appeared calm because the owner and employees were standing by the front door quietly.
However, when he entered the store, the owner told Officer Cintron that he wanted his employee, Connor Schoonover, to leave. Schoonover is a 20-year-old resident of Summer Street in Fitchburg.
“Connor began to raise his voice stating that he was not going anywhere,” wrote Officer Cintron in his Narrative. “I advised him that the owner of the location wanted him outside the business and before I could hear any side of the story, Connor’s friends [name redacted] and [name redacted] raised their voices to convince Connor not to comply with my request. I advised them that I needed Connor to leave the store. Connor began to walk out of the store but kept yelling at me that he was not going to move any further. I asked for two more units and a supervisor to de-escalate the situation.”
Officer Cintron told Schoonover to go to the sidewalk, then escorted him by placing his hand on his back in order guide him. As they headed toward the sidewalk, Schoonover’s friends yelled at the officer for asking Schoonover to relocate.
According to Officer Cintron, at this time, the patrons at the station’s gas pumps seemed “alarmed” and vehicles were stopping on Main Street to see what was going on.
“Once at the sidewalk and next to my cruiser, Connor turned around aggressively while bringing his hands up toward my face,” wrote Officer Cintron in his Narrative. “I grabbed his right hand in a wrist lock, placed him against the front fender of my cruiser. Officer Kochanski arrived, and we walked him to Officer Chagnon’s cruiser, where he was handcuffed. Officer Chagnon transported Connor to the police station where he was booked by the officer in charge.”
Schoonover was initially charged with disorderly conduct.
According to Sergeant Matthew Fallon, who watched Officer Cintron’s body camera footage following the incident, while Officer Cintron and Schoonover were outside of Miles Automotive, Officer Cintron told Schoonover to “calm down,” at which point Schoonover stepped toward the officer saying, “Nah bro,” while pointing his finger in Officer Cintron’s face aggressively. Officer Fallon said that the two were about three feet apart at this time.
“Officer Cintron then yells to Connor, ‘Calm down!’” wrote Sgt. Fallon in his Supplemental Narrative for the incident. “Connor then leans in toward Officer Cintron, points his finger in an assaultive manner in Officer Cintron’s face, and yells in a very angry/aggressive tone, ‘YOU CALM DOWN!’ Connor is moving his pointed hand back and forth rapidly, directly in Officer Cintron’s face when he yells this. Officer Cintron then took hold of Connor’s hand that was pointing at him and moved Connor against the front fender of his cruiser. For these reasons, I am adding a charge of Assault.”
Schoonover was released on his own personal recognizance on $40 bail prior to his arraignment in Leominster District Court.
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Disclaimer 2: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from late February, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
