Clinton man beaten, choked unconscious by roommate who jumped through window as police arrived

CLINTON — On Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, at approximately 8:28 p.m., Clinton dispatch received a call from a man near the intersection of Main and Roma streets who reported hearing two men fighting, yelling, and the sound of glass breaking.

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

“The reporting male party stated it appeared to be two white males and he witnessed them get physical with one another,” Officer Champagne said.

Officer Champagne said that, at approximately 8:32 p.m., Officer Jacob Brescia arrived at the intersection of Main and Roma streets, and he arrived shortly thereafter.

“As I pulled in front of 927 Main Street, I could hear yelling coming from inside the residence,” Officer Champagne said. “I approached Officer Brescia who was on the right side of the residence when we witness a male party, later identified as [29-year-old] Alden Lopez, break and jump out of the first floor window in front of us.”

Officer Champagne said that Mr. Lopez, who appeared intoxicated, complied with officers’ commands and put his hands against the house for Officer Brescia to check his person for any weapons.

“As I walked towards the now broken window, I noticed what appeared to be blood all over the frame,” Officer Champagne said.

At this time, another 29-year-old male party came to the window displaying an extremely swollen face, particularly around both eyes, and was visibly bleeding from cuts on his nose, Officer Champagne reported.

“Due to the situation, I advised Officer Brescia to detain Mr. Lopez and requested Clinton dispatch to have an ambulance come to my location for [the other male party],” Officer Champagne said. “I eventually was able to make my way into the residence, which had broken glass all over the floor, along with broken furniture.”

“I spoke with [the victim] who advised me that Mr. Lopez was a friend of his who came to live with him two weeks ago from Indiana,” Officer Champagne said. “I asked [him] what caused Mr. Lopez to start assaulting him and he replied that they were doing nothing and Mr. Lopez started attacking him. [He] said he was punch in the face numerous times and that Mr. Lopez also choked him out, to the point where [he] stated he lost consciousness.”

Officer Champagne said that, when speaking about the damage in the house, the man stated that Lopez smashed one of his windows, broke one of his cabinets that had items inside, and broke his side door, which he claimed was worth over $2,000, to the point that it would no longer open and the glass at the top was shattered.

At this time, Officer Champagne said Clinton Fire Department personnel arrived on scene to take the victim to Clinton Hospital so he could be treated for his injuries.

“Once he was inside the ambulance, I advised Sergeant Jeffrey O’Toole of what occurred,” Officer Champagne said.

Officer Champagne said that he then asked Lopez, who at that point was seated in the back of Officer Brescia’s cruiser, if he wanted to explain what happened, but Lopez declined.

“Officer Brescia then read Mr. Lopez his Miranda rights and advised him he was under arrest,” Officer Champagne said. “Officer Brescia informed me that after doing so, Mr. Lopez made a comment about wanting to just fight [the victim] and then move on. As Officer Brescia was about to start transporting Mr. Lopez to the Clinton Police Department, Mr. Lopez informed him that he had a firearm inside the residence on the second floor in his room. He stated it was a Beretta handgun and it was in one of the drawers.”

Officer Champagne then entered the residence with Officer Brescia at Sergeant O’Toole’s request to take possession of the firearm.

“We made entry into the upstairs bedroom that Mr. Lopez described and on one of the nightstands out in the open was a black Beretta handgun case,” Officer Champagne said. “This case was unsecured and did not have any locking device on it preventing someone from gaining access to it. Inside the case was the Beretta handgun that Mr. Lopez described, which had a 10 round magazine inside of it and one round of ammunition in the chamber.”

Officer Brescia cleared the weapon to make it safe and took possession of the items, including an unopened locking device, two grips, three rounds of 9mm ammunition, and a magazine quick loader. Officer Champagne noted that Lopez does not have an active license to carry (LTC) or firearms identification card (FID), and the firearm was found to be unregistered.

At this time, Officer Brescia transported Lopez to the Clinton Police Department for booking.

“Bail Commissioner [Chris] Hart was notified and Mr. Lopez was to be held for court,” Officer Champagne said. “While being booked, Mr. Lopez made multiple comments about wanting to fight [the victim] and get over it like men.”

Lopez’s arraignment was scheduled to take place in Clinton District Court.

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

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