ORANGE — On Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, a 29-year-old Orange resident who was charged with indecent assault in February 2024 for slapping a woman in the buttocks at the Walmart on East Main Street, was taken into custody at his Wheeler Avenue residence on a probation warrant.
(In response to a FOIA request for documents related to the Nov. 1, 2025 arrest, News Link Live received the following arrest report. The Orange District Court did not indicate whether the probation warrant executed that day was issued in connection with this incident or for an unrelated probation violation.)
On Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Officer Sydney Richardson of the Orange Police Department was advised that Ariel [last name redacted] was filling out a statement regarding an indecent assault incident that allegedly occurred at the Walmart on East Main Street at around 9:30 p.m. that evening.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Sydney Richardson and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“When speaking with Ariel she said that she went to Walmart with her cousin Quincey [last name redacted],” Officer Richardson said. “They were listening to music and the car battery ended up dying. Quincey called her boyfriend, Devin, to help jump-start her car. Devin showed up with three of his friends, all of which, Ariel said, she did not know.”
Officer Richardson said Ariel told her that she and Quincey wanted food, and that Devin said he would go inside to get it for them.
“He went inside, forgetting to grab money from Quincey so she asked Ariel to go inside for her and grab cheese cake,” Officer Richardson said. “Devin and his friends were at the self checkout when Ariel went over and handed the cheese cake to Devin. Ariel said her boyfriend Gabe was working in the self checkout and she started talking to him. While she was talking to Gabe, Devin and his friends were leaving. Ariel said as they were walking behind her she, ‘Felt a hand and fingers, palm up, touch my a$$ cheek as he walked by.'”
Officer Richardson said Ariel told her she saw a man — later identified as Phelan Lyman — quickly walking away.
According to police, Phelan P. Lyman, 29, is a resident of Wheeler Avenue in Orange, MA.
“Ariel said she yelled out, ‘Hey what the f*ck, you touched my a$$, that’s not okay,'” Officer Richardson recounted. “She said that after she yelled, he began to walk faster and left the store. Ariel stated that she did not know who the friend was, but knew his name was Phelan. Ariel said that she was going to talk to Quincey about finding out what Phelan’s last name was. I asked if it was okay that I would follow up with her on Thursday and she said that it was.”
On Thursday, February 29, 2024, Officer Richardson went to the Walmart on East Main Street, where she said she saw the surveillance video of Lyman “going out of his way, reaching out, and touching Ariel’s buttocks.”
“I called Ariel and asked if she spoke to Quincey about Phelan’s last name and she said it was Lyman,” Officer Richardson said. “As she did not have the correct spelling of his first name, I told her I needed to make sure I had the correct person to be able to criminally charge them. Ariel said she went on Facebook and found him. She described his profile, which I was able to find, and said she was absolutely positive that was him. We had in-house records of Phelan and I went to his address to speak with him.”
Officer Richardson stated that when she and Officer Benjamin Kovacevic arrived at Lyman’s Wheeler Avenue residence, Lyman opened the door after they knocked, and Richardson asked if she could speak with him about what had occurred at Walmart.
“He invited us inside and we spoke about the incident. I told him we were there because of what happened on Monday night at Walmart and I asked if he could explain why he did what he did,” Officer Richardson said. “Phelan said he was uncomfortable talking about it because he does not know why he did it. Phelan said he was not thinking and said he was extremely sorry for it. He asked if he would be able to apologize to her. I told him I would speak with Ariel about him apologizing, but it was her decision whether or not to pursue criminal charges against him.”
Officer Richardson said that she then spoke with Ariel, who said she still wanted to go forward with the criminal charges.
“Phelan was advised he was going to be criminally charged with indecent assault and battery and he would receive a summons in the mail from the Orange District Court,” Officer Richardson said.
Phelan Lyman was charged with the following:
- Indecent Assault & Battery on Person 14 or Over
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the arrest in this story took place earlier this month, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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