Fitchburg man arrested for stealing cell phone out of man’s hands at Leominster gas station

LEOMINSTER — On Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, Officer Christian Edge of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to Rebel Convenience Store (aka Rebel Gas) at the Speedway gas station located at 700 Central Street following a report of an individual allegedly harassing a male party.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Edge and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

When Officer Edge arrived on scene, he activated his body worn camera, exited his cruiser, and observed a male party, whom he recognized as Mr. [first name redacted] Diaz.

“Mr. Diaz [aka ‘Danny’] appeared to be very stressed out,” Officer Edge said. “He was pacing back and forth. He raised his voice towards a male party that was walking across the street (casually) and stated multiple times that the male stole his phone. I immediately had Mr. Diaz stay by my cruiser while I spoke with the male, later identified as Mr. Joseph Johnson.”

According to police, Joseph Johnson, Jr., 46, is a resident of 153 Highland Avenue, Fitchburg, MA.

Officer Edge continued, “Mr. Johnson began verbally telling me that he didn’t have ‘Danny’s’ phone. He consented to pulling his pockets out and removing his zippered jacket and sweatshirt. No cell phone was on his person. After apprising Danny of this, he was adamant that Mr. Johnson placed it into the yellow clothes collection bin next to Rebel. At the time of my presence, there was no physical way to open the collection bin to confirm or deny his statement.”

Officer Edge stated that he then spoke to Diaz again and asked him to “take his time” and “walk through what led to the police responding.”

“Danny gathered his thoughts and told me that he was using his phone inside Sunoco Gas Station (which is across [the street] from Rebel),” Officer Edge said. “Danny then told me that Mr. Johnson followed him around the store, asking for Danny’s phone (as he did not have a phone himself). Danny did not want to give him his phone. Danny then engaged in a phone call with another party. Mr. Johnson then allegedly took Danny’s phone right from his grasp and exited Sunoco, permanently depriving Danny of his property.”

After obtaining Diaz’s full statement, Officer Edge said he went into Sunoco and spoke with the clerk. The clerk began by telling the officer that he saw Diaz talking on a phone when he was inside the store, the clerk then brought Officer Edge into the backroom where the gas station’s surveillance computers were.

“The surveillance shows, at around 6:15 a.m., Danny and Mr. Johnson inside Sunoco,” Officer Edge recalled. “Both parties appeared to be wearing the same clothing that I observed in my presence. In the video, it shows Danny using his phone and going into a corner of the store. Mr. Johnson then walks closer to Danny. The two appear to converse verbally [but the video has no audio to support it]. After a brief period, the video shows Mr. Johnson reach for Danny’s phone [which was in his left hand by his left ear]. Mr. Johnson then takes the phone from Danny and exits the store.”

Officer Edge said that since the video surveillance corroborated Diaz’s statement, he formed probable cause to believe that Johnson had in fact committed larceny from a person (MGL Chapter 266 Section 25).

“Mr. Johnson took and carried away Danny’s property (his cell phone), which was not property of his own, and did so with the intent to deprive Danny of his property. Mr. Johnson then hid the phone prior to a police response,” Officer Edge said. “I advised Mr. Johnson he was under arrest for said crime. He turned around and placed his hands behind his back. I then pat frisked for weapons (none found). I then placed him into the rear compartment of Officer [Dennis] Hatstat’s cruiser.”

Once he was in the back of the cruiser, Officer Edge said that Johnson wanted to tell him where the phone was.

“Before that occurred, I read Mr. Johnson his Miranda rights (verbatim from a card I carry on my person),” Officer Edge said. “Mr. Johnson understood his rights and still wanted to talk to me. While in the back of Officer Hatstat’s cruiser, Mr. Johnson verbally stated Danny’s phone was outside of Sunoco by the trash bin (not Rebel Gas station’s collection bin). Officer Hatstat checked said area and observed a black Motorola phone in the corner. Danny subsequently took possession of the phone and was able to unlock the phone using a unique combination. From that action, I had reason to believe the phone was in fact Danny’s.”

Officer Hatstat then transported Johnson to the Leominster Police Station for booking, while Officer Edge informed Diaz of his right to obtain a harassment prevention order against Johnson. Johnson told Officer Edge that he might look in to applying for a harassment prevention order later on during court hours that day, Officer Edge recounted.  

Officer Edge said he then cleared the scene without issue.

Johnson’s bail was set at $2,000.

Johnson was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Oct. 3, 2024. Following his arraignment, he was released under the condition that he stay away from and not contact the victim (Diaz). Johnson’s next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for Nov. 4, 2024.

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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