LEOMINSTER — On Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at 1:54 a.m., Officer William Taylor of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the Denny’s at 38 Commercial Road, following a report from staff that a patron, Alicia Levert, was refusing to leave.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Taylor.)
“A line cook, [name redacted], and two other employees told me they were waiting for Alicia, who had been asked by each of them multiple times to leave, to exit so they could close and lock up the restaurant; they denied she had any outstanding tab left to pay,” Officer Taylor said.
Alivia Levert, 60, is an unmarried woman who’s homeless in Leominster.
When Officer Taylor arrived on scene, he spoke with Levert, who was seated at a dining table.
“Alicia sat calmly at a corner table, saying she refused to leave unless I had somewhere else warm for her to spend the night, to which I suggested she make arrangements to meet with the Leominster Police Department’s Community Outreach Program (which could help her with placement into a homeless shelter) in the daytime, but in that immediate moment I did not have a new life for her on hand, and the bottom line was that if she would not leave, I would be forced to arrest her,” Officer Taylor said.
After hearing this, Levert still refused to leave, adding that she’d rather spend the night in jail than outside in the cold.
Officer Taylor then arrested Levert for trespassing.
Officer Gabrielle Larivee, a female officer, responded to pat-frisk Levert and transport her to the station for booking. She was arrested without incident.
The Denny’s employees declined an offer from Officer Taylor to issue Levert a trespass notice.
Alicia’s bail was set at $140.
She was arraigned that morning in Leominster District Court.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from November, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
