LEOMINSTER — On Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, at 5:51 p.m., Officer Avery Benvissuto and Officer Michael Dingman of the Leominster Police Department were dispatched to the Leominster Animal Hospital at 129 Lancaster Road following a report that a man was almost struck by a vehicle on Willard Street.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Benvissuto.)
“Upon our arrival, we contacted the reporting party, Matthew Vaillette,” Officer Benvissuto said. “Matthew stated that while walking on Willard Street near the intersection of that street and New Lancaster Road, a black SUV sped up, swerved at him, and attempted to hit him. Matthew stated that the vehicle then made a left at the intersection and continued inbound on New Lancaster Road. Matthew stated that he was unable to get the full license plate number but he was able to identify ‘5MG’ or ‘5MS,’ something like that.”
Matthew Brian Vaillette, 38, is homeless in Leominster.
“Matthew then began to ramble on about how people are out to get him,” Officer Benvissuto said. “Matthew was wearing a dark green cloak and a black hood. Officer Dingman suggested to Matthew that wearing some type of high-visibility clothing may be beneficial. Matthew then stated that homo sapiens and serial killers are out to get him so wearing high-visibility clothing would be bad for him.”
According to Officer Benvissuto, Matthew then abruptly ended the conversation and walked across the Leominster Animal Hospital parking lot, and continued walking towards Willard Street.
More: Leominster man kicks in $1,500 glass door of police station, gets arrested
“It should be noted that Matthew is well known to the Leominster Police Department and has made similar reports in the past.”
According to police, Vaillette made fraudulent 911 calls, leading to police deployments on several prior occasions: the day before February 12, 2024, as well as on February 9, 2024, and January 24, 2024. Benvissuto added that Vaillette also has a history of contacting the Leominster police’s business line to report fictitious incidents.
“Matthew Vaillette has known mental health issues and a history of disorderly conduct in the City of Leominster,” Officer Benvissuto said. “He also has a history of calling the Leominster Police business line and rambling about one unrelated topic to the next for lengthy periods of time.”
Earlier that day, on Feb. 13, 2024, Vaillette made 12 calls to the Leominster police’s business line. The calls took place from 1:34 p.m. until 5:44 p.m. At 5:50 p.m. he made the 911 call that resulted in his summons.
The reports Vaillette made to the police business line on Feb. 13, 2024 included the following:
- At 1:34 p.m. (14 second call): Matthew called and stated, “That’s all paranoid fascists watching and reacting to me…”
- 3:01 p.m.: (1 minute 17 second call): Matthew called and stated, “…today a bunch of horrible fascists attempting communications, interruptions…”
- 6:06 p.m. (2 minutes 11 seconds call): Matthew called and stated, “5LGY21, for some reason, screaming out of their vehicle, whoever’s every vehicle that is, Massachusetts plate…screaming at me, staring at me, uh, there’s a large number of sick people that are driving and staring at me, as usual…any obvious excuse that you might make for this is completely null, this has been going on for a very long time…always do better in this world…those are all enemies…everywhere around me…those are fascists, by now the hazing their parents are following the law, they are still enemies and fascists.”
After reviewing the records, Officer Benvissuto requested a summons for Vaillette for the charge of False Reports to Emergency Service Providers.
Vaillette’s bail was set at $1,000 cash and $10,000 surety.
Vaillette was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Feb. 15, 2024. He was released on bail following his arraignment.
Vaillette is scheduled to appear in court again on March 13, 2024 for a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from earlier this month, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
