CLINTON — On Sunday, May 26, 2024, at approximately 6:56 a.m., Patrolman Kristopher Vazquez of the Clinton Police Department was dispatched to the area of 980 Main Street, following a report that a car struck three houses and caused a significant gas leak.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Patrolman Vazquez and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
When he arrived on scene, Patrolman Vazquez saw a red Ford Explorer with Massachusetts plates, positioned where the porch once stood at 980 Main Street. The Explorer came to a stop after colliding with a blue 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe.
Patrolman Vazquez said that – in addition to 980 Main Street – the facade of two adjacent homes, 990 Main Street and 986 Main Street, had been entirely dislodged from their respective structures and had fallen into disarray in their neighbor’s yards.
“The street, sidewalk, and yards of three homes were littered with debris as if a bomb had gone off,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “There was also an overwhelming odor of gas filling the neighborhood. The gas seemed to be coming from the meter of a house, which was making a very loud hissing noise which was comparable to a jet engine.”
Before hitting the homes, it appeared that the Explorer collided with a telephone pole.
“The pole was struck with such speed and force, that the telephone pole was shattered at the base and travelled across Main Street, coming to a rest in the parking lot of 995 Main Street,” Patrolman Vazquez said.
Patrolman Vazquez mentioned that the smell of gas was so strong that he could detect it all the way from Allen Street on his way to the scene. Consequently, he immediately asked onlookers to evacuate from the area.
“My attention was drawn to a male party wearing black shorts, socks without shoes, and a gray fleece sweater, rummaging in the rear driver’s side window of the red Explorer,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “He later identified himself as Sean Dobson. I called to Sean, telling him to get away from the crashed vehicle and the source of the gas leak. Sean was noncompliant at first, but after several attempts to gain verbal compliance through yelling at him, he complied.”
According to police, Sean W. Dobson, 22, is a resident of 257 Chestnut Street in Clinton.
“As he was walking towards me, I immediately noticed that Sean was unsteady on his feet. He was stumbling and walking very slowly as if every step required his full attention,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “As he got closer to me, across the street from the accident, I was able to see that his eyes were red and glassy. When he reached me, I was able to detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. He spoke with very slurred speech, and swayed/stumbled as he stood in place near me.”
At this time, Patrolman Christopher Willoughby arrived and blocked off the intersection of Main Street and Olive Street.
“While speaking with Sean, he informed me that he was driving the red Explorer, and had gone off of the road,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “When I asked him for his license, he admitted that he did not have a license. There were no other occupants in the vehicle.”
Patrolman Vazquez later verified through the RMV that Dobson did not possess a valid license.
At around this time, the Clinton Fire Department and Patrolman Albert Bedard arrived on scene.
“Multiple residents were outside looking on in hysterics,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “While the major gas leak was still ongoing, Sean attempted to light a cigarette in front of Fire Captain PJ Chamberlin. The Captain had to forcefully remove the lighter from Sean’s person after Sean refused to obey orders about activating the spark of the lighter.”
According to Patrolman Vazquez, while Dobson was attempting to light his cigarette, Dobson was also engaged in a loud argument with a female resident of 990 Main Street. The two stopped yelling at one another when Patrolman Vazquez had them separate from each other. At this point, Dobson allegedly begged police to allow him to smoke a cigarette.
“After Captain Chamberlin had forcefully removed Sean’s lighter from his person, he repeatedly begged Patrolman Willoughby and I to allow him to smoke a cigarette with the major gas leak still ongoing,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “I asked Sean to move further away from the gas odor, so that we could provide the fire department space to work. We relocated to the patch of mulch in between 995 Main Street and 1015 Main Street.”
After moving with Dobson, Patrolman Vazquez noticed an even stronger smell of alcohol emanating from him.
“I also took note that Sean’s pupils were dilated to the point where his iris’s were nothing but a very thin line,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “I asked Sean what he had to drink, and he admitted to drinking that morning shortly prior to driving, however refused to explain further. Throughout my interaction with Sean, his behavior was similar to that of a rollercoaster. He would go from agitated and tumultuous, hurling insults at others, to being apologetic for his rude words. Sean’s actions served no legitimate purpose. Sean proceeded to call me a “ni$$a” at least 30 times throughout my interaction with him.”
After apologizing to Patrolman Vazquez following the third utterance of the racial slur, Dobson grew increasingly agitated and persisted in using the slur, until escalating to physical aggression.
“Sean stood up from where he was sitting on the ground, stumbling as he did so, and took his right foot back, getting into a boxing-style stance,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “He then proceeded to yell, ‘Suck my d*ck ni$$a!’ Sean balled his fists and said that he wouldn’t be ‘taking sh*t.’ He then barked at me to ‘swing first.’ I ordered Sean to sit back down to which he eventually complied.”
Patrolman Vazquez explained that although the police chose not to arrest Dobson immediately, his cruiser was positioned at the intersection of Main and Allen streets to block traffic. Patrolman Albert Bedard requested a Lancaster unit to block traffic at the intersection so Patrolman Vazquez could retrieve his cruiser, apprehend Dobson, and transport him to the station for booking.
When Lancaster Patrolman Nicholas Hatstat arrived, Patrolman Willoughby remained with Dobson, while Patrolman Vazquez briefed Patrolman Hatstat on how he could assist.
“While speaking with him, my attention was redirected to the sound of yelling from the Clinton Fire Department members,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “I turned to look and observed all of the fire department members running towards Sean and Patrolman Willoughby, who were on the ground. I immediately began sprinting up the hill and observed Patrolman Willoughby yelling for Sean to put his hands behind his back as they grappled. Sean was actively resisting, pulling his hands underneath his torso, between his stomach and the ground. Patrolman Willoughby removed his taser from the holster, and advised Sean again to put his hands behind his back or the taser would be deployed. Sean continued to resist, and Patrolman Willoughby delivered a drive stun to Sean’s lower back area. I arrived to the area of the struggle at this time and was able to forcibly remove Sean’s hands from under him, and handcuff him behind his back (double locked). I sat Sean up, and proceeded to retrieve my cruiser for transport. The entire evacuated neighborhood was standing outside watching the events take place.”
After Dobson was placed into the back of a cruiser, Patrolman Willoughby informed Patrolman Vazquez that the altercation began when Dobson stated his intention to retrieve a cigarette from his wrecked vehicle.
“As he stood up, Patrolman Willoughby advised him to sit back down to which Sean replied, ‘you think you can f*c$ing stop me?'” Patrolman Vazquez recounted. “At this time, Sean took a step towards Patrolman Willoughby and a struggle ensued. Sean had attempted to take Patrolman Willoughby to the ground by grabbing his legs, like a wrestler performing a double-leg takedown. Patrolman Willoughby had to forcefully defend his takedown, by sprawling and forcefully removing his leg from Sean’s grip.”
Patrolman Vazquez transported Dobson to the Clinton Police Station for booking.
“Throughout the booking process, Sean continued to slur his words, along with continuing his tumultuous and violent behavior, serving no legitimate purpose,” Patrolman Vazquez explained. “He also continued to hurl insults at officers, like calling me a ‘ni$$a,’ and saying that I look like a ‘Mexican Mario that never made it down the pipe.'”
After he was advised of his Miranda Rights, Dobson told police that he smoked a joint of marijuana that morning prior to driving.
“Sean refused to perform field sobriety testing along with refusing to provide an evidentiary breath test,” Patrolman Vazquez said. “Sean was asked if he had taken any other drugs, and he stated that he used to do heroin. When asked when the last time he had taken heroin was, he stated that he ‘overdosed a couple of weeks ago.'”
Dobson refused medical treatment and signed a waiver, Patrolman Vazquez said.
Prior to iterating the charges against Dobson in his report, Patrolman Vazquez added the following note:
“Based on my training and experience, and given that the red Explorer had travelled through a telephone pole and three homes, I determined that Sean had been driving well above the 30 mph speed limit. I estimated that Sean was travelling at least 80 mph and wrote that on one of the four citations issued to him.”
Dobson was charged with the following:
- Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle
- Disorderly Conduct
- Disturbing the Peace
- Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle
- Resisting Arrest
- Assault and Battery on a Police Officer (Patrolman Christopher Willoughby)
- Speeding
- Operating Under the Influence of Drugs
- Operating Under the Influence of Liquor
- Wanton Destruction of Property Greater Than $1200 (990 Main Street)
- Wanton Destruction of Property Greater Than $1200 (986 Main Street)
- Wanton Destruction of Property Greater Than $1200 (980 Main Street)
- Wanton Destruction of Property Greater Than $1200 (Massachusetts Registration [# redacted])
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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