WESTMINSTER — On Thursday, October 3, 2024, at approximately 4:00 p.m., Officer Patrick Porpora of the Westminster Police Department was dispatched to the residence located at 98 Narrows Road following a report that a male party, roughly 65-years old, wearing a gray sweater, hat, and jeans, stole a sign out of the residence’s yard and began walking toward Wyman Road.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Porpora and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“[The reporting party] stated that the male party appeared to be under the influence as he walked away,” Officer Porpora said. “I arrived in the area a short time later and observed an older-looking male party wearing a gray sweater, hat, and jeans, walking on Wyman Road in the area of Barrett Lane. I parked my cruiser on the side of Wyman Road and approached the male party from behind. As I was approaching the male party, I observed that in his right hand he was holding a small sign that indicated an electric dog fence was present.”
Officer Porpora spoke with the man, who was later identified as Roderick Paine.
According to police, Roderick J. Paine, 57, is a resident of 18 South Shore Road, Westminster, MA.
“Paine stated he was walking to Irving Gas Station to get Lipton mix for dinner,” Officer Porpora recalled. “Paine stated he has been staying with his sister, Therese [last name redacted], on South Shore Road in Westminster. Paine stated that he found the sign laying in the road so he picked it up to have something to hold while walking.”
Officer Porpora said that while speaking with Paine, he noticed a green substance in his mouth that appeared to be chalky and thick.
“Paine was unsteady on his feet, but stated he sprained his ankles four years ago, and that caused him to walk in an odd way,” Officer Porpora said.
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At this time, Officer Vanessa Tenore went to 98 Narrows Road to speak with the reporting party.
“[The reporting party] told Officer Tenore that Paine walked by her yard, which caused her dogs to bark at him,” Officer Porpora recounted. “[The reporting party] stated that Paine began yelling at her and her dogs stating that he hates dogs. Paine told the dogs to ‘shut the f$ck up’ and stated he fucking hates dogs. Paine then walked away from the house while [the reporting party] brought her four-year-old daughter inside. When [the reporting party] came back outside, Paine was back in front of her house yelling at her dogs again.”
The reporting party said that after yelling at her dogs a second time, Paine left, but she realized he had come back a third time when she could hear him kicking the holder of the sign in her yard that indicated an electric dog fence was present at her house. She then went outside to encounter Paine.
“Paine then removed the sign and began walking away while continuing to yell at [the reporting party],” Officer Porpora said. “[The reporting party] was scared to the point where she called her husband and brought her daughter inside of the residence. [The reporting party] began videotaping Paine and called the police. At no point was Paine given permission to take the sign, and because he was still carrying it when I made contact with him over a quarter mile away, he did not intend on returning the sign. The value of the sign was approximately $20. I took possession of the sign from Paine and advised him he was being detained for larceny. While searching Paine, Officer Tenore located a prescription bottle without a label on it in the right pocket of his sweater. Inside the bottle were three and a half green pills stamped ‘S 90 3.’ Through my training and experience, I identified the pills as Xanax. The color of the pills also matched the chalky-thick substance that I observed in Paine’s mouth. I advised Paine that he was under arrest and placed him in handcuffs. Paine was complaining that the handcuffs were hurting him, so a second pair was added. I transported Paine to the station while Officer Tenore returned the sign to [the reporting party]. Paine was read his Miranda rights from the sign on the wall and completed the booking process without incident. During the booking process, Paine stated the pills were Xanax and he bought them in Leominster from someone he does not know. Bail Commissioner Weiss set bail at $250 and Paine called his sister. Paine has 49 entries on his adult BOP [Board of Probation record] including possession of a Class E drug on 10/22/2002.”
Paine was charged with the following:
- Larceny under $250
- Possession of a Class E Drug
Paine was arraigned in Gardner District Court on Oct. 4, 2024. Following his arraignment, he was released on bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 3, 2024, for a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, 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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