CLINTON — On Sunday, May 12, 2024 at approximately 12:44 a.m., Officer Brendan Rutherford of the Clinton Police Department was dispatched to the rear of the Prescott Mills apartment complex located at 24 Water Street.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Rutherford and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Dispatch stated that a resident of the building called reporting a group of approximately four to five individuals yelling and arguing in the rear parking lot of the complex,” Officer Rutherford said.
When he arrived on scene, Officer Rutherford observed a man – later identified as Christopher Cummings, arguing with a woman who was later identified as 42-year-old Stephnie Alvarado.
According to police, Christopher Cummings, 44, is a resident of 805 Main Street in Fitchburg.
Two other individuals, later identified as James Strang, 58, and Laurin Rainha, 40, were standing at the bottom of the rear staircase of the building in the parking lot.
“Mr. Cummings was arguing and yelling obscenities while aggressively pointing his finger in the face of Ms. Alvarado,” Officer Rutherford explained. “At this time, I separated both parties and advised Mr. Cummings to stop yelling and to wait for me to speak with him.”
Officer Rutherford said that after he separated Cummings from Alvarado, Cummings continued yelling at her in an attempt to re-engage her in the argument. Cummings also told Officer Rutherford several times that he had no reason to speak with him.
At this time, Officers Mathew Champagne and Shane Gilman arrived on scene as backup.
“I advised Mr. Cummings that I was investigating a noise complaint and requested his identification. Mr. Cummings became visibly agitated and stated ‘go f*ck yourself; I’m not giving you $h*t,’” Officer Rutherford said. “At this time, I advised Mr. Cummings that he was not free to leave and that I needed to see his identification. Mr. Cummings started screaming and pointing his finger in my face. At this time, I advised Mr. Cummings to place his hands behind his back.”
Cummings continued yelling and shouting obscenities when Officer Rutherford placed Cummings in handcuffs and informed him that he was under arrest.
“It should be noted that a male resident from the second floor opened up his window and requested police units to ‘quiet that guy up,’” Officer Rutherford added.
Officer Gilman and Officer Champagne escorted Cummings to the rear of Officer Champagne’s cruiser. There, they patted him down for weapons, placed him in the backseat, read him his Miranda rights, and then transported him to the Clinton Police Department for booking.
“At this time, I began speaking with Ms. Alvarado, who stated she lives in apartment [number redacted] and was woken up by Mr. Cummings arguing with his friends,” Officer Rutherford explained. “Ms. Alvarado and her boyfriend, later identified as Daniel Wilson [55 years old] came to the lobby to ask them to be quiet, when Mr. Cummings became aggressive. Ms. Alvarado expressed to me that she was relieved to see police show up on scene due to Mr. Cumming’s behavior and demeanor.”
Officer Rutherford stated that at approximately 12:23 a.m.—21 minutes before the call that led to Cummings’ arrest—Clinton police had responded to a call at the same location reporting that a woman was being assaulted by three men.
“Upon arrival James Strang, Laurin Rainha, and Christopher Cummings were all found to be involved,” Officer Rutherford said. “Ms. Rainha denied that any physical assault had taken place. Christopher Cummings refused to ID himself to Officer Gilman during the investigation.”
Cummings was charged with:
- Disturbing the Peace
- Disorderly Conduct
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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