Hubbardston man charged with assaulting mother and interfering with her emergency call after punching her in the face

HUBBARDSTON — On Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, at 6:58 p.m., Officer Christopher Bergeron of the Hubbardston Police Department was dispatched to 19 Navajo Street following a report of a domestic incident at the residence.

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

“At this time, I requested mutual aid from the Town of Westminster,” Officer Bergeron said. “While responding to the residence dispatch advised the altercation had been physical and the involved male party was intoxicated. The involved party was identified by dispatch as Richard McNally.”

According to police, Richard R. McNally III, 25, is a resident of 19 Navajo Street, Hubbardston, MA.

When Officer Bergeron arrived on scene, Richard’s 64-year-old mother opened the front door with Richard standing beside her.

Richard’s mother, referred to as “Mrs. McNally” in Officer Bergeron’s report, told the officer that her son had struck her in the face, causing her to bleed.

“Mr. McNally was becoming agitated and stated that was not true,” Officer Bergeron said. “I then instructed Mr. McNally several times to sit on the stairs while I spoke to his mother. While watching Mr. McNally, I observed his right foot to be bleeding. Mr. McNally would not tell me what had happened.”

Richard’s mother said that on Friday night, Richard got into a physical altercation with his brother, who does not live at their residence, and injured his foot.

At this time, Officer Vaness Tenore of the Westminster Police Department arrived on scene to assist.

“Officer Tenore spoke to Mrs. McNally in the living room while I spoke to Mr. McNally in the dining room,” Officer Bergeron explained. “Mr. McNally could hear what his mother was saying and told her to stop lying. I instructed Mr. McNally to remain seated on the chair in the dining room, but he was not listening to my commands. I then had to place Mr. McNally against the wall and attempted to place handcuffs on him, but he started to pull away. At this time, Officer Tenore entered the room and assisted with handcuffing Mr. McNally. Mr. McNally then sat back on the chair and on multiple occasions stood up and had to be instructed to sit back down.”

Officer Bergeron said that he asked Richard several times what had transpired that evening and he refused to answer the officer’s questions.

“I then spoke to Mrs. McNally in the living room and she stated that she was sitting on the couch and Mr. McNally was in the bathroom and when he came out, she asked him if he was drinking, and he punched her,” Officer Bergeron recalled. “I observed a small cut to Mrs. McNally’s upper lip. Mrs. McNally declined to be evaluated by Hubbardston EMS.”

Mrs. McNally also stated that she was trying to leave the residence but her son would not move his car so she could leave. She added Richard also damaged her phone as she was trying to call friends to come pick her up so she could leave.

“In Mrs. McNally’s written statement, she added that Mr. McNally threw her car keys, glasses, and phone behind the couch,” Officer Bergeron said. “This also interfered with Mrs. McNally being able to call for help or leave the residence.”

Officer Tenore obtained a written statement and 209a Abuse Prevention Order refusal from Mrs. McNally.

Richard’s foot was evaluated and bandaged by Hubbardston EMS. Officer Bergeron said that Richard did not need to be transported to the hospital for the injury to his foot.

“When escorting Mr. McNally outside, his mother asked him for his car keys so that she could move his car to get her car out of the driveway,” Officer Bergeron said.

Officer Bergeron said that Richard would not tell his mother where his car keys were, adding that she could “make this all go away if she stopped lying.”

“Mr. McNally was then placed in the rear of Car 1 and transported to the Rutland Police Department where he was booked per department policy,” Officer Bergeron said. “Prior to leaving Mr. McNally’s residence, I asked him multiple times if he wanted his cell phone and wallet and he would not respond to my questions. Once in the booking room, Mr. McNally was advised the booking area was video and audio recorded, advised of his Miranda Warning, and Mr. McNally declined to make a phone call. Bail was set at $250.00.”

At 8:48 p.m., Officer Bergeron reported that Richard attempted to make a phone call to secure bail, but was unsuccessful.

“Mr. McNally was also treated by Rutland EMS for the injury on his foot as it started to bleed again from him walking. Mr. McNally did not require medical attention at a hospital for this injury,” Officer Bergeron said. “While speaking to Mr. McNally, I observed him to be unsteady when standing, his eyes to be glossy, and he asked the same questions multiple times. Mr. McNally’s demeanor ranged from upset and crying, to joking, and then agitated throughout my interaction with him. These are all indicators I know to be signs that someone is under the influence of alcohol. When Mr. McNally made a phone call, he also had a hard time placing the phone back on the receiver.”

Since Richard couldn’t make bail, he was transported to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office so he could be held overnight until his arraignment the following morning.

“While in the intake processing area of the Sheriff’s Office, the nurse asked Mr. McNally if he was under the influence of alcohol,” Officer Bergeron said. “Mr. McNally stated ‘no’ and then the nurse and sergeant on duty both stated to Mr. McNally that they could smell alcohol when he spoke.”

Richard was charged with domestic assault and battery and intimidation of a witness.

He was arraigned in Gardner District Court on Nov. 25, 2024. Following his arraignment, Richard was released on his own personal recognizance. His next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for January 7, 2025.

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Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from November, 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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