Two arrested after snow removal dispute turns physical in Winchendon

WINCHENDON — On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at approximately 4:54 p.m., Sergeant Gerald Gagne, Detective Caleb Similia, and Officer Dylan Mei of the Winchendon Police Department were dispatched to the duplex located at 202 Alger Street following a report of a disturbance and physical altercation.

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

“202 Alger Street is a duplex owned by Jason [last name redacted] with a shared driveway,” Sgt. Gagne said. Jason [last name redacted] and his girlfriend Courtney Ayotte live on one side designated 202A, Jason’s sister Xena [last name redacted] and her boyfriend Christopher Ortiz reside on the other side designated 202B. The two couples have been in a heated dispute over snow removal responsibilities in the past week with the police being called several times for reported related incidents of harassment.”

Upon arrival, Sgt. Gagne met with the reporting party, Xena, and her boyfriend, Ortiz, at the end of the driveway.

Sgt. Gagne stated that Xena, who appeared visibly upset and had noticeable scratches on her forehead and left hand, reported that her boyfriend, Ortiz, was shoveling snow in the driveway when Ayotte became aggressive toward him. In response, she pushed Ayotte back in his defense, before her brother, Jason, intervened and pulled her away. Xena further reported that after her brother Jason grabbed her, Ayotte attacked her by hitting her in the face and pulling her hair, causing the visible injuries.

According to police, Courtney N. Ayotte, 32, is a resident of 202 Alger Street, Unit A, Winchendon, MA.

Ortiz stated that while shoveling snow in the driveway, he accidentally hit Ayotte’s vehicle with the snow. In response, Ayotte approached him and began hitting his legs with the shovel and throwing snow at him. He then did the same back to Ayotte.

According to police, Christopher Ortiz, 40, is a resident of 202 Alger Street, Unit B, Winchendon, MA.

When Sgt. Gagne asked if he had any injuries from being struck in the legs with a shovel, Ortiz lifted his pant leg to reveal that he was wearing leggings and stated that he did not. When asked how many times Ayotte had hit him in the legs with the shovel, he responded, “five or six times.”

“Christopher added that after his girlfriend, Xena, pushed Courtney away from him, Jason pulled Xena away from Courtney and he then pulled Jason away from Xena when Courtney started hitting Xena and pulling her hair,” Sgt. Gagne said. “Christopher and Xena informed me that before the melee ended, Courtney raised the shovel over her head and tried to hit Xena with it, but Xena blocked it.”

Sgt. Gagne added, “To support their claims, Xena presented me with a door camera video clip of the incident which I reviewed but couldn’t see the incident in its entirety due to bushes along the driveway concealing part of the action. Reviewing the video, Christopher (concealed by the bushes) is reportedly shoveling the driveway beside Courtney Ayotte’s vehicle when Courtney can be seen running toward him with a shovel in hand before shoveling snow at him. Christopher claimed that Courtney then began hitting him with the shovel, but it didn’t appear in the video that she actually ever hit him with the shovel. As the video continues, however, Courtney can be seen deliberately shoveling snow into Christopher’s face, and in return, he threw several shovels full of snow, hitting Courtney in the face and also Jason [last name redacted] (apparently incidentally) as Jason stepped in the way.”

Sgt. Gagne stated that while reviewing and recording Xena’s door camera video on his department-issued cell phone, he stopped recording at the point where Ortiz threw several shovels full of snow, hitting Ayotte in the face, and also Jason, as he stepped in the way. Sgt. Gagne explained that the bushes obstructed the latter part of the footage, preventing the capture of the group’s movement toward the end of the driveway. However, upon further review of the video, Sgt. Gagne stated that a black shovel head, matching the one Ayotte was carrying, could be seen “popping up” over the bushes. He noted that this was consistent with Ayotte raising it to strike Xena, as she and Ortiz had claimed.

“Speaking with Courtney Ayotte who had visible redness to her cheeks, a scratch on the bridge of her nose near her right eye, a scratch on her upper lip, and a swollen bloodied lower lip, I asked her what happened?” Sgt. Gagne said. “Courtney informed me that she and Christopher Ortiz were shoveling snow in the driveway when Christopher (with shovel in hand) started throwing ice chunks at her car. Asking him to stop, he kept doing it and ended up throwing ice at both she and her boyfriend, Jason [last name redacted], striking them with it.”

Sgt. Gagne stated that Ayotte reported that Ortiz got chest to chest with her before Jason intervened. She claimed that Xena then attacked her by punching and hitting her in the face. In response, Ayotte stated that she hit Xena back one to three times and grabbed her hair to control her before the fight was broken up.

Sgt. Gagne added that when speaking with Jason, he did not provide much detail about the incident, but stated that he and Ayotte were minding their own business while trying to shovel a pathway to the end of the driveway for Ayotte’s son when Ortiz acted as the aggressor.

“Although I could not conclude from watching Xena’s door camera video that Courtney Ayotte ever struck Christopher Ortiz in the legs with the shovel that she held in her hands, I did clearly observe both Courtney Ayotte and Christopher Ortiz striking each other with the snow in the driveway which having frozen into a hard icy consistency requiring a sledge hammer to break up (see photo of sledge hammer in driveway) I determined was capable of causing serious injury and therefore constituted a dangerous weapon,” Sgt. Gagne said.

Sgt. Gagne stated that he requested Xena to send the full door camera video of the incident to his department email account. He then instructed Det. Similia and Officer Mei to arrest Ortiz while he placed Ayotte under arrest. He added that both Ayotte and Xena were offered medical attention at the scene but declined.

Both Ayotte and Ortiz were transported to the Winchendon Police Department where they were booked on the following charges:

Ayotte was charged with:

• Assault & Battery with Dangerous Weapon
• Assault with Dangerous Weapon
• Assault & Battery

Ortiz was charged with:

• Assault & Battery with Dangerous Weapon

After they were booked, Sgt. Gage said both Ayotte and Ortiz were released on their own personal recognizance.

Their arraignment was scheduled for Feb. 19, 2025 in Winchendon District Court.

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