ORANGE — On Thursday, June 12, 2025, at approximately 2:06 a.m., Officers Kyle Johnson and Andrew Starbard of the Orange Police Department were dispatched to 166 West Street after a Kelton Street resident called the Shelburne Control 911 Dispatch Center to report a large group of people fighting in the area.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Kyle Johnson and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“I arrived in the area approximately one minute later and drove into the building’s parking lot. I did not see any people in the area,” Officer Johnson said. “A resident of the building, who I did not identify, yelled out the window to me to inform me some of the people ran toward the front of the building.”
Officer Johnson said he checked the area, but didn’t locate anyone.
“Officer Starbard located Benjamin Priestley, Sr., behind Hi-De Liners. It was determined he was present for the altercation,” Officer Johnson said. (Hi-De Liners is a plastic packaging manufacturing company located at 131 W Main Street.)
“Priestley was not injured and denied any direct involvement,” Officer Johnson said.
Officer Johnson said Priestley told him the fight involved a person named Emanuel Robideau and was “probably about drugs.”
“Priestley also said there was a gun involved but could not provide substantial details as he was apparently under the influence of narcotics,” Officer Johnson said. “He said he believed Lisa Brooks-Hatch had the gun and was yelling at people to, ‘Get out of [there].’”
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At this time, Officer Johnson and Officer Starbard returned to 166 West Street to attempt to locate the other individuals involved in the alleged fight.
“After a brief search, Amanda Comstock was located in the tree-line near the apartment building,” Officer Johnson said. “It was determined she was also present for the altercation but not directly involved. She informed officers that she was trying to check on Austin Page, who was involved, to make sure he was not hurt. She said he was inside apartment #1 which belongs to Lisa Brooks-Heath. A brief time later, three subjects, all known to us, walked out of apartment #2. The three subjects were Miranda Brooks, Michael Nelson-Page, and Austin Page.”
Officer Johnson said he and Officer Starbard began speaking with the three individuals about the altercation and the possible involvement of a firearm.
“They stated the altercation was minor and involved more yelling than fighting and no one was injured,” Officer Johnson recounted. “Page stated the firearm was an air soft gun and was never pointed at anyone but he refused to say who possessed it. A warrant check was performed on Austin Page and Shelburne Control advised us that he had an active warrant out of Orange District Court.”
According to police, Austin T. Page, 32, is a resident of North Street in Erving, MA.
Officer Johnson said that when he and Officer Starbard informed Page he was under arrest, Page briefly became “slightly non-compliant” and tensed up as the officers took hold of him.
“We were able to secure him into handcuffs and search him,” Officer Johnson said. “The handcuffs were double-locked and properly fit to his wrists. During the search, an empty leather pistol holster was located but he was not in possession of a firearm.”
Page was then secured in the rear seat of Officer Starbard’s cruiser and transported to the Orange Police Department for booking.
“Upon arriving at the station, Page was searched again by Officer Starbard,” Officer Johnson said. “I searched his property, including his wallet. Inside of his wallet, which was removed from Page’s pants pocket by Officer Starbard, was a folded piece of paper containing a purple powder consistent with fentanyl, based on my training and experience.”
Officer Johnson said that he then read Page his Miranda rights from a card he carries on his person. Page stated that he understood and was willing to speak with police.
“I asked him what the purple powder was,” Officer Johnson said. “Page stated it was fentanyl.”
Officer Johnson said that Page has four prior guilty verdicts for Possession of a Class A Drug, and Possession of a Class A Drug (Subsequent), charges.
“Based on that information, I am charging Page with Possession of a Class A Drug (Subsequent), for possessing the fentanyl,” Officer Johnson explained. “The suspected fentanyl was sealed in an evidence bag and stored in our department’s evidence room.”
Police later weighed the fentanyl and determined it was 0.25 grams and valued it at $100, according to Page’s arrest report.
Page was charged with the following:
- Possess Class A Drug (Subsequent Offense)
- Orange District Court – Default Warrant
“Bail Commissioner David Weiss was contacted and ordered Page to be held without bail,” Officer Johnson said.
Page was transported to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for holding at approximately 5:00 a.m.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place two days ago, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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