Leominster man disrupts pickleball game at Doyle Field, exposes himself and shouts slurs before arrest

LEOMISNTER — On the morning of Wednesday, May 14, 2025, Officer Caulin Salvi of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the pickleball courts at Doyle Field following a report of a disturbance.

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

“Dispatch advised that the reporting party identified the involved party as Joe, and they could hear a male party yelling that his name was Joe Thompson in the background,” Officer Salvi said. “Dispatch was told that Joe was attempting to get hit by the pickleballs ‘so that he could sue them.’”

Officer Salvi added, “Please note officers have frequently dealt with Joe for disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, trespassing and other nuisance disturbances.”

According to police, Joe L. Thompson, Jr., 66, is homeless in Leominster, MA.

When Officer Salvi arrived on scene, Sergeant Elbin Vasquez was already there speaking with Thompson.

“Joe was still actively engaged in yelling at the assembled mass of approximately 10 to 16 pickleball players,” Officer Salvi said. He then noted that directly across the street from the pickleball courts is the Doyle Field playground, where numerous parents and their small children were playing at the time.

“Sergeant Vasquez informed Joe that he was under arrest and placed him in handcuffs,” Officer Salvi said. “Joe is usually rather uncooperative with police and has selectively chosen officers that he is willing to cooperate with. I attempted to use the rapport I had with Joe to keep him relaxed as I went to retrieve my cruiser to transport Joe.”

At this time, Officer Christian Schwartz had arrived on scene and was assisting in patting down Thompson for weapons.

“While being searched, Joe dropped his pants and underwear exposing his rear to the civilians behind him and was stopped by Sergeant Vasquez and Officer Schwartz,” Officer Salvi said. “Joe yelled ‘search my nuts’ as he did so.”

Officer Schwartz conducted a search of Thompson and placed all of his personal belongings into a duffel bag. Officer Salvi then took the duffle bag and – as he was placing it into his cruiser – Officer Salvi said that three adults were standing along the playground’s fence line watching him.

“Joe was observed by Sergeant Vasquez and myself yelling racial slurs such as [N-word] and [redacted],” Officer Salvi said. “Loudly enough that many onlookers from both the courts and the park were now watching Joe. Officer Schwartz and I attempted to walk Joe under his own power assisting him by holding his arms, Joe dropped all his weight, and started dragging his feet. Officer Schwartz and I had to lift Joe up and attempt to carry him as he was refusing to comply and walk on his own even with assistance. About halfway to the cruiser, Joe stuck his toes down and fully dropped his weight and tried to lay down.”

Officer Salvi said it took approximately 10 minutes for Joe to walk the 20 feet to the cruiser, during which he remained disorderly and yelled as loudly as he could at times.

“Regardless of how much Officer Schwartz and I tried to assist Joe with sitting in the cruiser, he continued to yell and be uncooperative,” Officer Salvi said. “From approximately 8:45 a.m. to 9:03 a.m., Joe delayed his transport for booking and continued the disturbance of the peace despite numerous warnings from all officers.”

While Officer Salvi transported Thompson to the Leominster Police Station for booking, Officer Schwartz remained on scene to speak with the three witnesses.

Officer Schwartz said that, according to a female witness, Thompson entered the pickleball courts yelling expletives and attempting to provoke someone into a fight.

“[The witness] expressed that she felt scared and feared for her safety,” Officer Salvi said.

Officer Schwartz said he also spoke with two male witnesses who confirmed that Thompson entered the pickleball court and tried to provoke them into a fight.

Thompson was arrested and charged with the following, Officer Salvi’s reasoning for the charges are provided in parentheses:

• Disorderly Conduct (dropping his pants attempting to expose himself)
• Resisting Arrest (refusing to physically comply with officers while being arrested)

“While writing this report dispatch replayed the 911 call to me and I could hear the reporting party’s [name redacted] shaky and uneasy voice as she described to our dispatchers how Joe had approached them, gotten into the courts, tried to get himself hit by a pickleball, and then proceeded to start yelling in the background of the 911 call,” Officer Salvi recounted. “At one time, I heard Joe yell at the reporting party directly.”

Thompson was arraigned in Leominster District Court on May 14, 2025. Following his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance. His next court date is a pretrial hearing on June 20, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in May, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.

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