LEOMINSTER — On Friday, Oct. 27, Officer Gabrielle Larivee and Officer Nicholas Rice of the Leominster Police Department were dispatched to the parking lot of Surfside Pool following a report of an unwanted guest at the food truck.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the Personnel Narrative of Officer Larivee.)
Upon arrival, Officer Larivee spoke with the owner/operator of the food truck, a 32-year-old woman.
The food truck operator told Officer Larivee that a Hispanic male wearing black pants and a brown coat keeps going up to the window demanding empanadas, even though she told him repeatedly that she had sold out of them.
“[She] asked him to leave and he returned three times about two minutes apart,” Officer Larivee said. “She stated that he was also going up to customers and asking them what they ordered to make sure she wasn’t selling them empanadas and not him. [The food truck operator] believed that he was disturbing her customers and affecting her business. The last time this male returned he left four $1.00 scratch tickets on her window. [She] stated that she didn’t want them and just wanted him to leave her and her business alone.”
Officer Larivee and Rice located a man that matched the description given by the food truck operator sitting on the ground in front of Tom’s Package Store, which is next to the food truck. The officers pointed out the man to the owner of the food truck and she confirmed that he was the individual who had been harassing her.
“Officer Rice and I approached this male and asked him what he was doing. He said that he was just trying to eat,” Officer Larivee said. “I advised him that he was harassing the worker of the food truck and he said that he wasn’t trying to cause problems, she just seemed like she needed money. Officer Rice and I returned to the truck with this male party and [the owner] gave him the [lottery] tickets. She advised him not to come back.”
Officer Larivee asked the man what his name was and he said “Mark,” but refused to give any further information. (The man was later identified as Mark A. Pearl, a 33-year-old unmarried construction worker who resides at 2 Crown Street, Apt. 3, in Fitchburg). When Officer Larivee advised Pearl “to be on his way,” he spurned her order.
“Mark refused to leave and stood in the parking lot with his hands in the air,” Officer Larivee said. “Mark began yelling random things such as how much he respects the workers and police officers of the world.”
When Officer Larivee told Pearl to stop yelling, he told the officer that’s just how he talks, and continued.
“I advised him a second time to stop yelling. Mark continued. [The food truck operator] stated that this is what he does all the time to disturb her and the customers,” Officer Larivee said. Adding, “The fact that we were in the parking lot attempting to deal with Mark was preventing her customers from getting service.”
Officer Larivee asked Pearl to identify himself once again. He refused.
“I also advised him that the yelling was disturbing the peace of [the food truck operator] and her customers,” Officer Larivee said. “I told Mark that he was under arrest for disturbing the peace.”
He was transported to the Leominster Police Department for booking.
While he was at the station, officers found a hospital band in Pearl’s pocket that identified him as Mark Pearl. Also at the station, it was discovered that Pearl had three warrants out for his arrest, one for violate abuse prevention order, another for violate abuse prevention order (unlikely to appear), and a third for violate abuse prevention order (failure to appear).
Pearl was held without bail.
He was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Oct. 30.
During his arraignment, Judge Mark Noonan waived Pearl’s counsel after colloquy. Since disturbing the peace is decriminalized, Pearl was found “responsible,” not guilty, for the charge, and the case was filed.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
