LEOMINSTER — On Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, at about 9:50 p.m., Officer Derek Doiron of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to Athens Pizza on Main Street following a report of several people beating up a woman.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Doiron.)
“Upon arrival, I was greeted by Ms. Amanda Graham. She was standing near a gray Mercury sedan,” Officer Doiron said. “She told me that she was jumped by three people in a car.”
Amanda Graham, 34, is a resident of 35 Fairmount Place, Apt. 9, in Leominster. According to court documents she works in a “shoe department” (which department wasn’t specified).
Graham said that as she tried to pass a white sedan driving very slowly in front of her on Main Street, the occupants of the vehicle began yelling at her, and eventually dragged her out of her car.
“She told me that she was able to get a hockey stick out of her trunk to defend herself,” Officer Doiron said.
When she had her hockey stick, Graham said a man in a blue sweatshirt got out of the car and spit at her. He then swung at her, but missed. She added that she didn’t hit anyone with the hockey stick.
“At this time, I noticed a white sedan stopped in the travel lane on Main Street in front of Athens Pizza,” Officer Doiron said. “Amanda pointed to the vehicle and said ‘that’s them!’ I told them to stop, as the driver had exited the vehicle. The man got back into the vehicle and drove inbound. I called out their location and the vehicle description on the radio. I heard Ofc. [James] McKenna pull the vehicle over on Mead Street.”
Officer Doiron then returned to Graham to let her continue her story.
Graham told the officer they broke her stick and left the scene. She then added that when she was dragged on the ground, some of her hair was pulled out. She also showed the officer a scrape on her knee and a bruise under her right eye.
A 19-year-old female witness approached the officer, identified herself and showed him a brief video she captured of the incident.
“It appears that only some of the confrontation was filmed,” Officer Doiron said. “In this footage, I noticed a man in a blue sweatshirt push Amanda on the ground and return to his vehicle. I determined that this incident occurred at the traffic lights on Main Street in the outbound lane in the area of the Nashua Street intersection. In the video that [the witness] provided, the railroad bridge that crosses over Main Street is seen.”
Officer Doiron then went to Officer McKenna’s location so he could speak with the other involved parties.
“I learned that the operator of the white sedan, James Anderson, had been arrested for a warrant,” Officer Doiron said. “The vehicle was owned by James and it was a white Hyundai. There were two other individuals in the vehicle.”
The passengers identified themselves as Raul Cubano, 24, of Gardner, and Christina Chaisson, 22, also of Gardner. James Anderson is a 25-year-old resident of Winchendon.
“They explained to me that the female (Amanda) in the other car was tailgating them,” Officer Doiron said. “They explained that when they got to an intersection, words were exchanged and Amanda got out of the vehicle, went to the trunk, and pulled out a hockey stick.”
Chaisson said that Graham started hitting the vehicle with the hockey stick, even though the windows were open. Anderson and Cubano then got out of the car to defend themselves and diffuse the situation.
Cubano said Graham hit him with the stick near the stomach. He reported no injuries.
“Christina told me that she went to Amanda and grabbed her arms in an effort to calm the situation and talk sense into her,” Officer Doiron said. “Christina said that Amanda tried to flip her onto the ground but was unsuccessful. Christina said she was not injured.”
Cubano and Chaisson then provided a video of the incident to police.
“I viewed the footage, which appears to show Amanda at the driver’s side of the vehicle holding the hockey stick and eventually taking a swing with it towards the area of the driver. The video ends at this point,” Officer Doiron said. “It appears through this video – from what appears to be an initial confrontation – that Amanda was the primary and dominant aggressor in the situation.”
Based on the information, Officer Doiron arrested Graham for assault.
She was transported to the Leominster Police Department for booking.
“I returned to the station after allowing Raul and Christina to leave the scene,” Officer Doiron said. “I spoke with James, who was in a cell after being arrested on a warrant. I read him his Miranda warning. He agreed to speak with me. He told me that it was dark and that he could not see that I was a police officer and believed me to be Amanda’s boyfriend who was coming after them. He went on to tell me that the female (Amanda) started the fight by exiting her vehicle and getting a hockey stick from the trunk. He showed me a small bruise on his left index finger. He told me that she hit him with the hockey stick after hitting his car. He told me that he pushed her to the ground in self-defense.”
After reviewing the footage and witness statements, Officer Doiron charged Graham with two counts of Assault by Means of a Dangerous Weapon. (One count for hitting Anderson in the hand with the hockey stick, and one count for hitting Cubano in the stomach region with the hockey stick).
Her bail was set at $2,000.
Graham was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Dec. 7, 2023. She is scheduled to appear in court again on January 24 for a pretrial conference.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from December, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
