ATHOL — On Saturday, January 18, 2025, at approximately 7:03 p.m., Officer Cody Vitols of the Athol Police Department was dispatched to a residence on Vaughn Road following a 911 hangup.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Vitols and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
On arrival, Officer Vitols knocked on the door and spoke with a woman who said that she called 911 because her ex-boyfriend, Brandon Hursey, who still lives with her, had assaulted her.
According to police, Brandon M. Hursey, 28, is a resident of 318 Vaughn Road, Athol, MA.
The woman told Officer Vitols that during an argument, Hursey pinned her onto the couch, preventing her from moving.
“[The woman] stated she recorded that incident on her phone,” Officer Vitols said. “[The woman] stated Brandon then noticed she recorded that incident and that is when Brandon grabbed her by the neck, threw her off the couch and said ‘I’m going to kill you.’ When asked if Brandon putting his hands around her neck made it difficult to breathe, [she] said ‘yeah.’ [The woman] denied needing medical attention.”
Officer Vitols said he observed no noticeable marks on the woman’s neck, although she said it felt “hot.” The woman said she called 911 after Hursey put his hands around her neck.
“[The woman] stated this type of incident had occurred multiple times before but has not been reported to police,” Officer Vitols said. “[The woman] said Brandon left the residence when he noticed [she] was calling 911.”
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She added that Hursey drives a gold Dodge Ram pickup truck.
“A CJIS [the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) database] inquiry indicated the vehicle to be registered to Brandon and bearing MA PC [# redacted],” Officer Vitols said.
Officer Vitols informed dispatch of the situation, stating there was probable cause for Hursey’s arrest. He also noted that the woman said her daughters were present and witnessed the incident.
“[The woman] was advised a 51A would have to be filed with DCF [Department of Children and Families]. [The woman] agreed to complete a written statement and an emergency restraining order [form].” (A 51A form is a mandatory report that professionals in Massachusetts, who work with children, must file with the DCF when they suspect that a child is being abused, neglected, or both).
Officer Vitols said that while he was speaking with the woman, Hursey returned to the house and walked inside. Officer Vitols asked Hursey to step outside and advised him he was under arrest. Hursey was handcuffed, searched, and placed into the back of Officer Vitol’s cruiser.
Officer Vitols transported Hursey to the Athol Police Station without incident.
Hursey was charged with:
- Assault & Battery Family/Household Member
- Strangulation
Hursey’s bail was set at $100.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from January, 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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$100.00 bail, they forgot to mention the THREAT TO KILL HER, it probably would have have added $5.00 to the bail request, such a waste of time, paper, TOTAL WASTE OF TAX PAYERS MONEY.