Rutland police break up underage drinking at Cool Sandy Beach; one arrested after refusing to cooperate

RUTLAND — On Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at 11:25 p.m., Officer Paul Soojian of the Rutland Police Department, was dispatched to Cool Sandy Beach on Victoria Avenue following a report of a group of juveniles being loud and possibly drinking on the beach.

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

 “The weather was cloudy and the temperature was approximately 72 degrees,” Officer Soojian noted. Later adding, “Dispatch stated that a male party had called 911 to report the disturbance, and the alleged underage drinking.”

When he arrived on scene, Officer Soojian said he parked his cruiser approximately 150 feet down the street from the beach area.

“As I exited the cruiser, I activated my body worn camera (please note: this report is a documentation of events based upon my recollection and perspective. Officers may have observed events that were not captured on camera, and the camera may have captured events that officers did not personally observe),” Officer Soojian explained. “I approached the area on foot, and as I did, I could hear individuals yelling on the beach. As I got closer to the beach, I saw a group of individuals sitting on a bench on the beach talking, and two individuals in the water swimming. I continued toward the bench and as I did, I observed that the two individuals in the water were the ones yelling.”

Officer Soojian said that once he was on the beach, he addressed the two individuals in the water and they immediately stopped yelling.

“With the noise quelled, I turned my attention to the individuals sitting on the beach,” Officer Soojian said. “I observed an open 12 pack of Twisted Tea on the bench in-between all of the individuals, and there were multiple empty beer cans, and empty fireball nip bottles scattered around the area. As I spoke with the individuals on the beach, I observed that several of them appeared to be under the age of 21. There was one individual present who was obviously over the age of 21, and I identified him as [name redacted]. I asked [him] if he was the parent or guardian of any of the individuals there and he indicated he was not. I asked [him] about the alcohol and he stated that the package of Twisted Tea was his and that he had not shared it with any of the individuals present. As I spoke with [him], I observed his eyes to be bloodshot and glossy, his speech was slurred as though he spoke with a thick tongue, and there was a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person. I identified the other individuals sitting on the bench as [names redacted]. As I spoke with these individuals, Sergeant [Diane] Herzig arrived on scene to assist.”

Officer Soojian said Sergeant Herzig and he tried to identify where the individuals resided and who their parents or guardians were.

“I turned to the water to attempt to speak with the two that were swimming when I arrived, and I did not observe them in the water anymore,” Officer Soojian said. “I asked the individuals on the beach the names of the two individuals that were in the water and they identified them as [name redacted] and ‘Tyler.’ I asked the individuals on the beach if they knew Tyler’s last name and they indicated they did not. As we investigated this matter, I located a sweatshirt on the bench. I lifted the sweatshirt and located a sandwich baggie on the bench that contained a green vegetable matter, that through my training and experience I recognized as marijuana, a cellphone, and a vape. I asked everyone on the beach to whom the marijuana belonged and everyone denied it being theirs. I asked to whom the cell phone belonged and they stated it was Tyler’s.”

Officer Soojian said that while he gathered information with Sergeant Herzig from the individuals on the beach, he heard someone call out from the water.

“I turned toward the water and I observed one of the two individuals who were swimming, heading toward the shore from behind a floating dock,” Officer Soojian said. “I ordered the individual out of the water, and asked him if he was Tyler and he stated, ‘I don’t know.’ I explained to the male party that the noise he was making upon my arrival was unreasonable given the time and that I was looking to speak with him as he was disturbing the peace. The male party, who was later identified as Tyler Hayward, started to exit the water. As Hayward exited the water, he insisted that I was disturbing him as he was on private property.”

Officer Soojian said he then asked Hayward his name and he refused to identify himself.

“As Hayward exited the water, I observed him to be unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred as though he was speaking with a thick tongue, and he continued to yell at me,” Officer Soojian said. “As Hayward approached, he continued to state, ‘call Liz’ and ‘I am not going to sit here and listen to your bull$hit.’”

Officer Soojian stated that because Hayward refused to identify himself and acted confrontationally, he advised Hayward he was being detained and ordered him to place his hands behind his back.

According to police, Tyler James Hayward, 20, is a resident of High Street in Jefferson, MA.

“Hayward passively resisted and refused to turn around and put his hands behind his back, and he questioned me as to if my body camera was on, and my name and badge number,” Officer Soojian said. “I informed Hayward my body camera was active, and provided him with my name and badge number in hopes that he would then comply. I ordered Hayward again to turn around and place his hands behind his back, and this time he complied. I started by holding Hayward’s hands behind his back and asked him multiple times to identify himself, and he refused to do so and told me to ‘shut the f$ck up.’ Given that Hayward continued to be volatile towards me, I placed him in handcuffs, and had him take a seat on the bench. Once seated on the bench, Hayward continued to try to get up and get into my face. I applied pressure to Hayward’s shoulder and collarbone in order to make him take a seat again. Once seated again, Hayward continued to yell at me, refused to identify himself, and he began to actively resist by leaning forward and trying to stand up. Sergeant Herzig came over to assist and she grabbed Hayward by the arm and wrist. Hayward continued to resist and pulled away from Sergeant Herzig as he tried to stand up.”

Sergeant Herzig then used a wrist lock to prevent Hayward from resisting, according to Officer Soojian’s report.

“Sergeant Herzig and I tried to deescalate the matter by talking to Hayward, or locate a family member that we could speak to about the matter, however, Hayward continued to try and pull away from Sergeant Herzig and myself, and he continued to yell and scream expletives at us, such as when he called Sergeant Herzig a ‘psych f*ck*ng c*nt,'” Officer Soojian said.

Officer Soojian said that given that Hayward wouldn’t calm down, and the matter only seemed to be getting worse, he placed Hayward under arrest.

“I escorted Hayward to the cruiser and as I did, he actively resisted as he tried to pull away from me,” Officer Soojian said. “Given that Hayward was resisting, I placed him in a wrist lock as I escorted him to the cruiser in order to maintain control of him.”

Once at the cruiser, Officer Soojian pat frisked Hayward and then I secured him in the rear passenger compartment of the cruiser.

“Once Hayward was secured, Sergent Herzig and I worked on getting the three juveniles into the care of their respective parents,” Officer Soojian said. “Once the juveniles were in the care of their parents, I secured a pair of shoes, a sweatshirt, a red vape, the cell phone, and the baggie of marijuana from the beach. I attempted to confirm who the property belonged to and [a female] stated she believed the vape was hers. I provided [her] with the vape and I secured the remaining items in the cruiser.”

Officer Soojian stated that while he was securing the remaining items in the cruiser, Hayward confirmed they belonged to him, including the marijuana.

“Once the matter was resolved and the peace was restored, I returned to the cruiser and found that Hayward had moved his hands from behind his back to his front,” Officer Soojian said. “Given how Hayward continued to resist the entire process, I chose to transport Hayward to the station with his hands secured in front of him, instead of trying to move his hands back behind him. Once at the station, Sergeant Herzig and I attempted to book Hayward, however, he continued to yell at us and he refused to complete the process, either by not answering the booking question, or giving clearly false answers to the questions. Hayward continued to be argumentative and yell expletives at us, despite our attempts to calm him down. While we attempted to book Hayward, he was secured to a bench in the booking room with his right hand handcuffed to the wall. Hayward deliberately tightened the handcuff, and he pulled the handcuffs against his wrist. Once we completed as much of the booking process as we could, I contacted Bail Clerk Donald Haapakoski and bail was set at $250.00. Hayward was allowed to make a phone call, and then he was secured into the cell until he was willing to cooperate and complete the remainder of the booking process.”

Officer Soojian said he issued a by-law citation to Hayward for the open container of marijuana and placed the citation in with Hayward’s belongings.

“Once the bail money for Hayward arrived, I spoke with Hayward and he agreed to complete the remainder of the booking process,” Officer Soojian said. “We then photographed and fingerprinted Hayward without issue. I informed Hayward of the by-law citation, and explained it to him accordingly.”

Hayward was released on bail, with an individual named “Small” agreeing to take him into her care until he was sober.

“As we completed the booking process, and once Hayward was released on bail, he apologized and admitted that he ‘was just being an a$$hole,’” Officer Soojian said.

Tyler Hayward was charged with the following (Officer Soojian’s explanation for the charges are in quotations):

• Disturbing the Peace: “On July 16, 2025, we received a 911 call reporting a loud disturbance at Cool Sandy Beach, on Victoria Avenue,” Officer Soojian said. “Upon my arrival, I personally heard yelling coming from the beach that was unreasonable given the time of night, and the nature of the yelling. Hayward was one of the individuals yelling. When I attempted to speak with Hayward about the incident he kept yelling, continuing the disturbance in question.”
• Disorderly Conduct: “On July 16, 2025, we received a 911 call reporting a loud disturbance at Cool Sandy Beach on Victoria Avenue. Upon my arrival, I personally heard yelling coming from the beach that was unreasonable given the time of night, and the nature of the yelling,” Officer Soojian said. “Hayward was one of the individuals yelling. While I attempted to speak with Hayward about the incident, he kept yelling, continuing the disturbance in question. Hayward refused to cooperate with lawful orders, and his yelling and tumultuous behavior only escalated the matter. Hayward’s demeanor and actions served no legitimate purpose and only exacerbated the matter.”

Hayward’s arraignment was scheduled for July 17, 2025, in East Brookfield District Court.

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

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