ATHOL — On Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, at approximately 4:47 p.m., Officer Paul Forand of the Athol Police Department was dispatched to 105 South Street after a woman reported that her apartment had been broken into.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Forand and written statements submitted to police.)
When the officer arrived on scene, the woman said that the day before – Feb. 7, 2024 – she was in Maine visiting family with her fiancé. At around 7:30 p.m., as she was getting ready for bed, she was checking the Roku security cameras at her apartment on her phone when she noticed Sara Newton, who lives upstairs, pacing back and forth in the driveway outside the entrance of her apartment.
Sara Newton, 38, a resident of 3 Charles Place in Athol, was staying in an apartment at 105 South Street that’s leased out to a woman named Melissa [last name redacted]. Newton was staying in Melissa’s apartment with Baron Spencer, who police say is normally homeless in Athol.
“[The woman] stated she continued checking the recordings and saw Newton looking at her apartment door and windows,” Officer Forand recounted.
Shortly thereafter, the woman said all her security cameras turned off and she could not get a signal on any of them. Her security camera app indicated that there was no power source so she knew it wasn’t the Wi-Fi.
“[The woman] and her fiancé decided to drive home because they were worried about their apartment,” Officer Forand explained.
The woman said that when they arrived home at around 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2024, they discovered that the power was off in their apartment. The woman and her fiancé went into the basement and found out that all of the circuit breakers for their apartment had been switched off. After her fiancé restored the power, they returned to their apartment. There, the woman noticed her bedroom window had been opened, the television had been knocked off her dresser, a footprint was left on it, various items were scattered throughout her room, and some possessions were missing.
The woman showed Officer Forand the window in her bedroom that she suspected had been broken into. She said she stood the television back up on the dresser before calling police.
“I observed the window with smudged hand prints on it along with a television with hand smudges on it,” Officer Forand said.
The officer noted that the padlock on the bedroom door was also broken.
The woman said the following items were missing from her apartment:
- Two bottles of liquid morphine
- Vehicle title
- Silver plated baseball cards (multiple)
- Antique comic books (multiple)
- Social security card
- Magnetic tray
- Expired credit cards (multiple)
On Feb. 21, 2024, the woman whose apartment was broken into contacted Officer Forand to say that Melissa, the person who Newton and Spencer were staying with upstairs, told her she witnessed the incident. In a written statement to police, Melissa said that Spencer and Newton broke into her downstairs neighbor’s apartment because they wanted to get even with her for calling DCF (Massachusetts Department of Children and Families) on them. She added that the reason they stole the title to the woman’s vehicle was because Newton was going to pay someone to tow it to a junk yard for cash.
According to Officer Forand, Melissa said she saw Baron Spencer climb on a small roof adjacent to the bedroom window in an attempt to get into the apartment. When Spencer failed to open the window, Newton gave it a try and succeeded, allowing Spencer to then enter the apartment.
Melissa said Spencer was in the apartment for about an hour before returning upstairs to her apartment. She added that Spencer and Newton went back into the woman’s apartment an hour later. The second time Spencer entered the apartment through the bedroom window, he busted the padlock on the bedroom door so Newton could come in through the kitchen door.
Melissa said the two were in the apartment for approximately fifteen minutes the second time. Melissa said she wanted to tell her neighbor about the incident right away, but delayed until February 21 due to fear of retaliation, following a threat from Spencer.
“[Melissa] also wrote in her statement that she wanted to tell [the woman] what happened but Spencer threatened her saying she would be ‘gunned down’ by his ‘Holyoke boys,’” Officer Forand explained. “[Melissa] wrote she was scared due to the threats made but decided it was best to provide the information she knew.”
At this time, Officer Forand issued a warrant for Newton and Spencer because they were both presumed to be homeless since Melissa kicked them out of her apartment.
“Officer Forand and the Athol Police Department are currently unaware of where Newton and Spencer are living/staying,” Officer Forand said.
Officer Forand said that the criminal records for both Newton and Spencer show numerous defaults which is indicative of their unlikeliness to appear in court.
Baron Spencer was charged with:
- Breaking & Entering Daytime for Felony for breaking and entering (bedroom window) into a dwelling during the daytime with the intent to commit a felony (larceny from a building)
- Larceny from a Building for taking and carrying away the aforementioned items (belonging to the woman) from the apartment with the intent not to return them
- Intimidation of a Witness for threatening Melissa with being “gunned down” if she reported what she witnessed to anyone.
Sara Newton was charged with:
- Breaking & Entering Daytime for Felony for breaking and entering (bedroom window) into a dwelling during the daytime with the intent to commit a felony (larceny from a building)
- Larceny from a Building for taking and carrying away the aforementioned items (belonging to the woman) from the apartment with the intent not to return them
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from February, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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