ATHOL — On Saturday, March 21, 2026, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Sergeant Craig Deveneau of the Athol Police Department said he was conducting surveillance of known drug users in the area of Cumberland Farms, specifically Ryan McGrath.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Sergeant Craig Deveneau for the incident and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Sergeant Deveneau said he was already in the area after receiving an earlier report of suspected drug activity outside Domino’s, which is located next to Cumberland Farms. He said he suspected Faith Schlichting had been involved based on the earlier information.
“A short time after the earlier complaint, Sgt. Deveneau observed Ms. Schlichting riding her electric scooter to a nearby building that Sgt. Deveneau has known drug activity,” Sgt. Deveneau said in his report (in which he referred to himself in the third person). “At this point, Sgt. Deveneau drove to the back side of this location in an attempt to observe Ms. Schlichting from a distance.”
As Sergeant Deveneau was watching for Schlichting, he said he observed McGrath’s red Toyota Tacoma pull in and park.
Sergeant Deveneau said he suspected McGrath saw his cruiser and got spooked, because his truck remained there for a several minutes, no one entered or exited, and then McGrath left, turning onto Main Street toward Cumberland Farms.
Sergeant Deveneau said he waited a few more minutes and did not observe Schlichting, so he drove around the back of Cumberland Farms and came out onto Main Street, where he observed McGrath’s truck at the gas pumps.
Sergeant Deveneau said he then drove around the block before pulling into the United States Post Office, where he parked and watched McGrath from a distance. While doing so, he said he observed McGrath move his vehicle from the gas pumps into a parking space. Sergeant Deveneau said he continued watching for several minutes, during which time he also observed a gray car parked nearby and an unknown woman walking back and forth in and out of the store. The officer said that as he continued his surveillance, he observed Schlichting show up on her scooter.
“Mr. McGrath exited the passenger side of his truck at this time, walked around the back, and met Ms. Schlichting,” Sergeant Deveneau said. “During this interaction, Ms. Schlichting took her backpack off and appeared to have reached inside before what appeared to be handing Mr. McGrath something.”
Sergeant Deveneau said that based on his training and experience, as well as his knowledge of the parties involved, he believed this to be a drug transaction.
“Almost immediately after this took place, the gray car pulled around and Ms. Schlichting jumped in the passenger side back seat,” Sgt. Deveneau said, adding that the gray car then pulled out of the parking lot onto Main Street without its headlights on.
The vehicle then turned into the Domino’s driveway, at which point Sgt. Deveneau pulled out and proceeded across the road into another entrance to the area where the car had turned.
As he drove toward the vehicle, Sergeant Deveneau said he observed two feet hanging out of the open rear passenger door while the vehicle was moving.
Sergeant Deveneau said that due to the unsafe operation of the vehicle and the illegal narcotics transaction he observed, he activated the emergency lights on his cruiser and pulled the vehicle over.
Sergeant Deveneau said he exited his cruiser and quickly approached the passenger side of the vehicle as the front-seat passenger moved around extensively in a manner he believed suggested possible concealment, while the rear passenger, Schlichting, attempted to get out and had to be told to get back in. He said Schlichting continued to ignore his commands.
At around this time, Sergeant Deveneau said he requested an additional unit respond to the scene to assist “as these parties were acting very defensive and arguing” with him and thus “making it difficult to gain control.”
Concerned about what the front passenger, later identified as Laurie Pickup, might be hiding — whether drugs, weapons, or something else — Sergeant Deveneau told her to step out of the vehicle.
Prior to stepping out, Sergeant Deveneau said he could see what appeared to be a plastic bag in Pickup’s sweatshirt pocket.
“Upon looking in the bag, [I] observed a cut straw, heroin wrapper, and corner plastic bags all indicative of narcotics use,” Sgt. Deveneau said. “[I] asked Ms. Pickup to step away from the vehicle and empty her pockets, Ms. Pickup did so and tried to conceal a crack cocaine pipe in her hand.”
Sergeant Deveneau asked Pickup to turn over the pipe.
“Ms. Pickup did hand it over after a brief hesitation,” Sgt. Deveneau said.
Sgt. Deveneau asked Pickup to step to the front of the vehicle, then searched the immediate area where she had been sitting, finding nothing further.
Sergeant Deveneau said he then approached Schlichting.
“[I] asked Ms. Schlichting to lift her shirt just above her waistline and turn around to confirm no weapons were present,” Sgt. Deveneau said. “Ms. Schlichting did have a wallet full of cash that she first claimed was hers.”
Sergeant Deveneau said he then told Schlichting to step away from the vehicle at which time she turned around and grabbed her backpack and threw it over her shoulder.
“[I] tried to pull the backpack away as this is what [I] observed her to reach into before handing something to Mr. McGrath,” Sgt. Deveneau said. “Ms. Schlichting resisted and did everything she could to prevent Sgt. Deveneau from gaining control of the backpack.”
Sergeant Deveneau said that when Officer Andrew Morris arrived on scene, he was able to get control of the backpack.
Upon opening the backpack, Sergeant Deveneau said he observed pre-packaged plastic baggies containing what appeared to be crack cocaine, packages of heroin, a sandwich-style bag containing a white powdery substance, and loose cash in $5, $10, and $20 denominations.
As Sergeant Deveneau searched the bag, he said Massachusetts State Police troopers arrived to assist because Sergeant Deveneau had requested a female trooper to search the women in question.
Sergeant Deveneau said he returned to his cruiser and called Athol Police Drug Task Force Detective Paul Forand to advise him of the situation. After speaking with Detective Forand, Sergeant Deveneau said he placed Schlichting under arrest.
“Ms. Schlichting was transported to the Athol Police Department for booking,” Sgt. Deveneau said.
While preparing to process Schlichting, Sergeant Deveneau said he read her Miranda rights and she stated she understood them.
Sergeant Deveneau said it was evident to him that Ms. Schlichting was under the influence of narcotics, as she struggled to keep her head up and was not very coherent.
“Officer Morris had dispatch contact Athol Fire Department to respond and assess Ms. Schlichting,” Sgt. Deveneau said. “Ms. Schlichting was subsequently transported to the Athol Hospital via ambulance with Officer Morris following behind.”
Sergeant Deveneau said he then conducted a thorough search of Schlichting’s backpack.
During the search of the backpack, Sergeant Deveneau said he located several packets of heroin, prepackaged heroin and crack cocaine, morphine pills, Suboxone, a scale, sandwich bags, a piece of paper listing names with dollar amounts beside them, $115 in cash scattered throughout, and several miscellaneous items.
“A majority of these items are commonly used by someone distributing narcotics,” Sgt. Deveneau said. Adding, “The wallet that Ms. Schlichting had in her back pants pocket contained $1,090.00 dollars cash.”
Faith Hope Schlichting, 23, of Athol, was charged with the following:
- Possess to Distribute Class A Drug (Heroin/Fentanyl)
- Possess to Distribute Class B Drug (Subsequent Offense)
- Possess Class B Drug (Suboxone)
- Possess Class A Drug (Morphine)
“Bail Clerk David Weiss was contacted and bailed Ms. Schlichting at the Athol Hospital on $100 dollars, which was
provided by her boyfriend,” Sgt. Deveneau said. “Upon being released, Ms. Schlichting was held longer at the
hospital for observation as a result of being under the influence of narcotics.”
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in March, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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