LEOMINSTER — On Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at about 9:45 p.m., Officers Jonathan Ramos and Brandon Carlson of the Leominster Police Department were dispatched to the Sunset Towers apartment buildings at 100 Main Street following a report of an unwanted guest.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Ramos.)
When he arrived on scene, Officer Ramos spoke with the caller, Wendy Hietala, 64, in the lobby. Hietala said that her son, Brandon Harrington, 32, was intoxicated and wouldn’t leave her apartment. According to police, Harrington is a resident of 221 Mechanic Street.
“She continued to inform me that Mr. Brandon Harrington was supposed to go to a detox program but did not,” Officer Ramos said. “Ms. Hietala, after making arrangements in her apartment to make him comfortable, asked him to leave.”
Hietala added that she didn’t have permission from management to allow her son to stay in her apartment anymore nights.
“I entered the elevator and traveled to Ms. Hietala’s apartment. The door was unlocked, and she allowed us to enter to speak with Mr. Harrington,” Officer Ramos said. “I observed Mr. Harrington seated upright in a recliner while sleeping. I announced myself to Mr. Harrington, but he did not awaken from his slumber. I lightly grabbed Mr. Harrington’s left shoulder so that I could wake him up, as my verbal attempts did not work. Mr. Harrington slowly woke up and began to speak with me. I informed Mr. Harrington that his mother no longer wanted him in the apartment, and I tried to help him find a responsible adult to care for him (as he was intoxicated). Ms. Hietala reported that Mr. Harrington had been drinking, and the more I spoke with him, the more I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his mouth.”
Harrington tried to call his cousin for a ride, but didn’t complete the call, Officer Ramos said.
“Mr. Harrington slowly became unreasonable and rude, although I treated him with dignity and respect,” Officer Ramos said. “I continued my conversations with Mr. Harrington, offering alternative solutions to arrest, such as him voluntarily going to the hospital for an evaluation. Mr. Harrington was not interested in any of these solutions and stated that he just wanted to be arrested. I spoke with Mr. Harrington in an effort to deescalate the situation as he continued to grow more hostile. Mr. Harrington became unreasonable to facilitate conversations with and insisted on the Leominster Police Department arresting him. Mr. Harrington, while saying this, was standing in front of me with his hands behind his back.”
Officer Ramos said that despite continued efforts to speak with Harrington, he was unable to “establish a productive conversation” with him.
“Mr. Harrington continued to state that he wanted to be arrested,” Officer Ramos said. “Mr. Harrington was placed under arrest for being in violation of trespass after notice.”
Officer Ramos handcuffed Harrington, then escorted him to the elevator and led him out to his cruiser.
“Mr. Harrington stated that his knee was injured, only allowing him about 50 degrees of mobility,” Officer Ramos said. “Mr. Harrington, while trying to get himself in a position to be transported, continued to speak about things unrelated to the call. At one point, Mr. Harrington referred to me as a ‘N$g$*’ and “F*g.” I ignored these derogatory and disgusting words in an effort to treat Mr. Harrington with respect. Mr. Harrington was able to bend his injured leg on his own accord to fit in the prisoner compartment. I transported Mr. Harrington to the Leominster Police Station for booking.
After he was booked, Harrington was placed into a holding cell at the Leominster Police Station.
According to the Personnel Narrative of Officer Brandon Donahue, at approximately, 11:50 p.m., Harrington asked if he could go to the hospital because of his knee pain. He was transported to a nearby hospital by the Leominster Fire Department.
At approximately 1:35 a.m., on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, Harrington returned to the station from the hospital and was placed back into a holding cell.
Harrington’s bail was set at $100 cash.
Harrington was arraigned in Leominster District Court by Judge Mark E. Noonan later that morning; after which he was released on bail and his own personal recognizance, under the condition that he submit to random alcohol/drug screens.
Harrington is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 29, 2024, for a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: 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.
