GARDNER — On Monday, September 1, 2025, Officer Elijah Williams, and Sergeant Roger Cormier of the Gardner Police Department were dispatched to 116 Church Street following reports of a male party sleeping on the couch in a common area of the elderly residential building.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Statement of Facts of Officer Elijah Williams and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“The male party was already off the property upon our arrival, and after identifying him, we allowed him to leave,” Officer Williams said. “A short time later, dispatch advised us that the male party, Devan Alford, had an active warrant, and we began attempting to relocate him.”
According to police, Devan Alford, 35, is a resident of Fitchburg, MA.
“I located Devan behind the coin operated laundromat on West Street,” Officer Williams said. “I began speaking with Devan until Sergeant Cormier arrived on scene. At this time, I advised Devan of his warrant and attempted to place him into handcuffs. When I grabbed onto Devan’s arm, he began pulling away from me and Sergeant Cormier and attempted to run. During the scuffle, we all fell to the ground, and Devan continued to refuse to give us his arms.”
Officer Williams said that, after some struggle, he and Sergeant Cormier were able to get Alford’s arms free and place him into handcuffs.
“I searched Devan and then placed him in the back of my patrol car and transported him to the police department for booking,” Officer Williams said. “Devan had a black duffel bag with him and other property in his pockets. While inventorying his property in booking, I located a purple plastic ‘fruit discs’ bag with other small plastic baggies in it.”
Officer Williams stated that, based on his training and experience, the small plastic baggies were consistent with packaging methods commonly used in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs.
“I read Devan his Miranda rights and asked what was in the plastic baggies, and he said it wasn’t anything and that he made it himself,” Officer Williams said. “After pulling everything out, I located one dark brown/black powdery substance in a corner-cut bag that I weighed to be 12 grams, which, with my training and experience, is consistent with the appearance of black tar heroin.”
Officer Williams stated that he also located the following:
- Six corner-cut baggies containing a whitish-brown powder weighing approximately 19 grams, consistent with the appearance of cocaine.
- One bag containing a brown powdery substance inside capsules in pill form, weighing approximately 40 grams, which, based on his training and experience, appeared consistent with heroin or fentanyl.
- One corner-cut baggie containing a brownish-white powdery substance, along with smaller corner-cut baggies and a small Ziploc bag holding additional smaller baggies of the same substance, weighing approximately 24 grams in total. Officer Williams stated that, based on his training and experience, the packaging and substance within were consistent with the sale and distribution of heroin.
- One tied plastic baggie, wrapped in tinfoil, containing a brownish-white, rock-like substance weighing approximately 6 grams, and another bag with the same substance weighing 10.5 grams — both of which, based on his training and experience, were consistent with the appearance of heroin.
- One white and black rock-like substance weighing approximately 25 grams, which, based on his training and experience, was consistent with the appearance of crack cocaine.
“I found a gray and black Hi-point handgun loaded with eight rounds in the magazine; the firearm’s serial number was also scratched off and unreadable,” Officer Williams said. “The firearm was loose and without a holster inside the front zipper pocket of the duffel bag. There was also a knife rolled up in a paper towel located with the handgun.”
Officer Williams said that after Sergeant Cormier completed the booking process, Alford was placed in cell 9.
Devan Alford was arrested and charged with the following:
- Warrant Arrest
- Resist Arrest
- Firearm, Carry without License
- Possess Large Capacity Feeding Device
- Possess Ammunition without FID Card
- Carry Firearm without License Loaded
- Firearm Serial No., Deface
- Possess Class A Drug
- Possess to Distribute Class A Drug
- Possess Class B Drug, Subsequent Offense
- Possess to Distribute Class B Drug
- Dangerous Weapon, Carry
Alford’s arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 2, 2025, in Gardner District Court.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in September, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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