
SOMERVILLE – On Tuesday, January, 17, 2023, Officer Gianna Ferrera of the Somerville Police Department was dispatched to the Home Depot located at 75 Mystic Avenue following a report of a larceny.
While en route, dispatch informed Ferrera that the suspect and the reporting party, a manager at Home Depot, were at Capital One Café on Revolution Drive. Dispatch added that the suspect was a white male with a knife, wearing a black and green jacket with boots.
“Upon arrival, I was flagged down by the victim, Patrice Cineus, in front of Capital One,” wrote Officer Ferrera in his Narrative for the incident. “Cineus stated that the individual ran behind the building and was now running toward the subway. I then saw a male matching the description take off running towards the Assembly Orange Line substation.”
According to Officer Ferrera, after spotting the suspect, he called out for him to stop and he complied.
Officer Ferrera and other responding officers then approached the man – later identified as William Hancock – and asked him if he was in possession of a knife, Hancock said he had one in his front pants pocket. According to police, Hancock is a 60-year-old, unmarried resident of Peck Street in Rehoboth. He’s a carpenter by trade.

“I then spoke with Cineus. Cineus is one of the managers at Home Depot,” wrote Officer Ferrera in his Narrative.
Cineus told Officer Ferrera that he saw Hancock walk past the registers and exit Home Depot with stolen property. When he asked Hancock to return the stolen items, Cineus said Hancock pulled a switch blade out of his pocket and “attempted to swing it at him.” Hancock then took off running in the direction of Capital One, leaving all his personal belongings behind. Cineus said he then called Somerville Police and followed Hancock to Capital One.
“Based on the above stated facts, I will be taking out the following charge on William Hancock: c265 S15B Assault with a Dangerous Weapon,” wrote Officer Ferrera in his Narrative.
Hancock was also charged with Larceny under $1,200. (The item(s) Hancock attempted to steal were not included in the FOIA request obtained by News Link Live).
Hancock’s bail was set at $500.
Hancock was arraigned in Somerville District Court on January 17. On February 17, he had a pretrial hearing that was continued to February 24. On March 13, Hancock had a disposition. Hancock’s disposition was continued to April 21.
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Disclaimer 2: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from January, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.