LEOMINSTER — On May 31, 2024, Officer Christian Schwartz was dispatched to 233 North Street in response to a 911 call. During the call, dispatch overheard a man asking, “Are you going to give me my medication?” followed by a woman replying, “Are you going to kill me?”
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officers Schwartz and Garrett Hardy and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Upon arrival, I parked my fully marked cruiser in front of house 230 North Street,” Officer Schwartz said. “I had just hung up with Officer Hardy, who stated he would be arriving shortly. I stepped out of my cruiser and began walking towards the driveway on the right side of the house.”
At the end of the driveway, Officer Schwartz saw a man in a hoodie yelling and moving erratically, he was flanked by two older adults, one on each side of him.
“When I looked at the male and got a full scope of his silhouette, I saw in his right hand a black and silver object; based on my training and firearms experience, I recognized that object to be the slide part of a firearm,” Officer Schwartz said. “I moved from my position diagonally and stepped back to the corner of the house for cover; I unholstered my department-issued firearm and radioed to dispatch ‘gun, gun, gun.’”
Officer Schwartz said he peered around the corner of the house and told the man to drop the weapon. The man responded by repeatedly pulling the slide of his handgun back, which placed Officer Schwartz in fear for his safety.
“The older adults were moving around his immediate area, ideally attempting to calm him down; I kept my pistol at a high-ready stance and continued to give commands,” Officer Schwartz said. “I continued down the driveway while giving commands to ‘stop moving,’ ‘get down,’ and ‘drop the gun.’ While walking down the driveway, I heard a distant sound of metal striking the ground, similar to dropping a pistol on the ground. I quickly closed the distance between the male and myself to ensure there were no additional weapons pulled.”
Once he reached the rear of the driveway, Officer Schwartz stood next to the older adults, who were later identified as the man’s parents. The man was identified as Christopher M. Pearce, 42, a resident of 12 Valdalia Avenue in Fitchburg.
Officer Swartz said the older female walked over to him, holding both of her hands to her abdominal area. With his peripheral vision, Officer Schwartz saw a metal object, which turned out to be a gun. The woman handed the gun to the officer with the slide open and pointed in a safe direction.
“I quickly grabbed the weapon, confirmed no magazine and placed the pistol into the rear of my back between my belt and back,” Officer Schwartz said. “The male had positioned himself in the front of a green motor vehicle at the hood. I placed my department-issued firearm into my holster and transitioned to my taser.”
With taser in hand, Officer Schwartz ordered Christopher to put his hands in the air and get down on the ground.
“Whenever I attempted to work around the motor vehicle, the male party moved equally, creating ‘buffer space,’” Officer Schwartz said. “Eventually, the older female moved down the left side of the motor vehicle and grabbed ahold of the male suspect. They both positioned themselves to the rear of the house against the siding.”
While Christopher was pressed against the back of the house with his mother covering him for protection, she told police that Christopher was having a “mental breakdown and that he was a good kid.”
To his left, Officer Schwartz said he saw Sergeant Ronald Ramos and Officer Hardy. Sgt. Ramos had his rifle drawn.
“To my left, I yelled that I had the firearm and had transitioned to less-than-lethal,” Officer Schwartz said.
At this time, Christopher’s mother let go of her son and Officer Schwartz and Sgt. Ramos ran over to Christopher to take him into custody.
“While attempting to get Christopher into custody he fell on the ground and put his hands under him. Officer Schwartz took one side of Christopher and Sgt. Ramos and I took the other side,” Officer Hardy said. “Officers were attempting to get Christopher’s hands behind his back, but he was resisting. I asked Sgt. Ramos if he would like me to dry stun Christopher at which point Christopher put his hands behind his back and officers were able to get him into custody.”
After handcuffing Christopher, Officer Schwartz said the officers “sat him up to ensure he could breathe and continued to conduct care; shortly, we stood him up and placed him into a lawn chair where he could sit comfortably and breathe without struggle.”
Christopher was charged with the following (Officer Schwartz’s reasoning for the charges is in quotations):
- Firearm, Carry Without License: “Unlawful possession of a firearm outside of the residence due to being outside of the house in the driveway.”
- Possess Firearm Without FID Card: “no LTC of any sort.”
- Assault With Dangerous Weapon: “due to wielding the firearm, aiming the firearm, and placing me in fear of imminent danger.”
- Resist Arrest: “due to struggle to place the male under arrest due to non-compliance.”
Christopher was arraigned in Leominster District Court on May 31, 2024. He attended a dangerousness hearing on June 6, 2024, during which he was found to be dangerous.
Christopher is now being held without bail for 120 days until a bail hearing on Sept. 9, 2024. In the meantime, Christopher will be attending a pretrial conference via video on July 3, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from May, 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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