LEICESTER — On Saturday, April 11, 2026, at approximately 9:04 p.m., Officer Ives Fisher of the Leicester Police Department was dispatched to the Walmart at 20 Soojian Drive following a report that a man had pulled a knife on an employee.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Ives Fisher and the Supplemental Narrative of Detective Robert Noone and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Officer Nicholas Wilson, Officer Michael Lombardozzi, and Detective Robert Noone also responded to the scene.
“I was first to arrive on scene,” Officer Fisher said. “When I walked into the store, I was met by an employee who directed me towards the man who had allegedly pulled the knife.”
Officer Fisher said he looked to the left and saw an older man sitting in a chair who was wearing a ball cap and camouflage jacket.
“This gentleman matched the description that dispatch had given to me over the radio,” Officer Fisher said. “I approached the man and smelled an extremely strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person. This man, later identified as David Rose, had a stoic look on his face and appeared that he was just staring right through me.”
According to police, David M. Rose, 61, is a resident of Spencer, MA.
Photo Credit: East Brookfield District Court
“I engaged with him and asked if he had any weapons on him,” Officer Fisher said. “David told me that he had knives, and then patted his pockets; he began to reach into his pockets and was advised by Officer Wilson and I to not reach into them.”
Officer Fisher then asked Rose what transpired that evening.
“David stared at me like he was searching his thoughts and for the proper response,” Officer Fisher said. “After doing so, he said, ‘I’m just confused.’ After hearing this, Officer Wilson and I asked him what he was confused about. David looked at us for a brief moment, again as if he was searching his thoughts.”
Officer Fisher then gave Rose options, asking whether he was confused “in general” or about a “time frame.”
“David then began to tell us that he was one of us and that he flew in the Air Force as he referenced his lapel pins that he had on his jacket,” Officer Fisher said.
After that, Officer Fisher asked Rose if he had pulled a knife on anyone. Rose told Officer Fisher and Officer Wilson, “No,” while shaking his head.
Officer Fisher then asked, “If I look at footage, am I going to see different?”
Rose replied, “You’re gonna see I pulled one out.”
Officer Fisher said that, at this time, Detective Noone arrived at their location and immediately told Rose to take his hands out of his pockets.
Rose raised both of his arms straight above his head as Officer Fisher and Detective Noone conducted a pat frisk to check for weapons.
“I found a pocket knife with a greenish and gold handle in David’s right pants pocket and secured it,” Officer Fisher said. “While Detective Noone and I conducted the pat frisk, David was in a seated position. After completing the initial frisk, we had David stand up and face the wall.”
Officer Fisher said that as they were conducting the rest of the pat frisk, he asked Rose if he had been drinking that day.
“He said that he had been, and when I asked him how much he had he said a little bit,” Officer Fisher said.
Officer Fisher said that when he tried to clarify how much “a little” was, Officer Wilson retrieved Rose’s wallet from his right rear pocket so he could provide dispatch with Rose’s information.
“After Officer Wilson retrieved the wallet, David became verbally aggressive, changing his entire demeanor and stating, ‘Give me my f*ck*ng wallet,’ while attempting to turn around to confront Officer Wilson,” Officer Fisher said. “At this point in time, for officer safety and David’s, we detained him in handcuffs until the matter was resolved. While we were attempting to put handcuffs on, David began to actively tense his arm muscles in a way, through my training and experience, that is indicative of him trying to break free of our hold.”
After placing Rose in handcuffs, Officer Fisher and Officer Wilson sat him back down in the chair they found him in.
“I radioed dispatch to send an ambulance to conduct an evaluation of David. Then I asked Officer Lombardozzi to take the pocket knife to the Asset Protection office to compare it to Wal Mart security footage. After that, Detective Noone said that he was going to speak with the Wal Mart employees who were witnesses/victims.”
Officer Fisher said that as Detective Noone spoke with the employees, he and Officer Wilson stood with Rose.
“While standing there, David was verbally abrasive towards myself and Officer Wilson, swearing at us and causing disruption to the other shoppers at Walmart, causing some to stop and stare at what was going on,” Officer Fisher said. “David also stated to Officer Wilson, ‘You guys should back up.’ While he said that to Officer Wilson, I had been on the radio with dispatch. Once I was done, Officer Wilson alerted me to what was said and I asked David ‘why.’ He stated, ‘Don’t step back…don’t,’ as he was shaking his head. He then leaned back in the chair as he was staring at me. I asked him, ‘Are you threatening me?’ David replied, ‘Nope,’ again shaking his head. He then followed with, ‘You should step back, I don’t like people close to me.'”
After Rose said this, Officer Fisher moved to his right, toward Officer Wilson, to give Rose more space.
“After doing so, I showed David that I was putting his ID in his left jacket pocket,” Officer Fisher said. “He immediately got agitated and told me to ‘put it back where you found it’ in an aggressive tone. I informed him that the ID was in his pocket and that it was going to stay there.”
Officer Fisher said he then stood with Officer Wilson and Rose while they waited for Detective Noone.
Walmart employees recount alleged assault
According to Detective Noone, he spoke with several store associates who were either victims or witnesses of the reported assault.
Detective Noone first spoke with the front-end supervisor, Karen, who said the suspect — who she identified as the man police had detained — verbally berated a juvenile employee over a matter outside of the employee’s control, namely Rose’s dissatisfaction with the operating hours of the independently run Jackson Hewitt tax preparation booth. Karen said the employee had been returning from break and happened to walk past Rose when Rose began berating him.
“After Karen observed [the juvenile employee] being confronted by David, she interjected and told him to stop treating her associate that way,” Detective Noone said. “She then tried to deal with David, who became more and more belligerent.”
Karen told Detective Noone that, around that time, two other store associates, Shawn and Dalton, approached and attempted to assist with the situation.
“David reportedly became fixated on Shawn and stated to him, ‘I’d like to slit your throat,'” Detective Noone said. “A moment later, David reached into his pocket, pulled out a pocket knife described as having a tannish-colored handle, fully opened the blade, held it in his hand blade-up, and held it out in front of his body in Shawn’s direction. David then began walking toward Shawn, who then started backing away, then ran away.”
Detective Noone then told Officer Fisher there was probable cause to arrest Rose for at least assault with a dangerous weapon. After Detective Noone informed him of this, Officer Fisher told Rose to stand up from the chair and advised him that he was being placed under arrest.
Police describe arrest, hospital transport and booking process
As Officer Wilson and Officer Fisher began walking Rose out of the store, Rose asked about his belongings, which were still near the chair.
“I informed David that we were going to get his belongings and he said, ‘No you’re not,'” Officer Fisher said. “As we exited the Walmart, EMS arrived on scene, and I asked that they meet us over at the rear passenger compartment of my cruiser.”
Once Officer Wilson and Officer Fisher arrived at the front of Officer Fisher’s cruiser, they searched Rose in accordance with departmental policy before placing him in the cruiser. As they did so, Rose began berating both officers, calling them “queer” and “c*nts.”
“Near the end of our search, I felt David tense his arms and he elbowed my left upper arm,” Officer Fisher said. “Officer Wilson and I assisted him back to the side of the cruiser, then I informed him that he was going to be charged with assault and battery on a police officer. Officer Wilson and I brought David to the rear passenger compartment of my cruiser and assisted him in. Leicester EMS (LEMS) then began their evaluation.”
While LEMS was with Rose, Officer Fisher said he and Officer Wilson began searching and inventorying Rose’s backpack on the hood of Officer Fisher’s cruiser. While they were doing so, LEMS told the officers that Rose would be transported to UMass Hospital.
“I followed the ambulance to the hospital and mirandized David in the Emergency Room; he stated that he did not want to talk to me. David was then placed in a chair in the hallway close to the trauma rooms,” Officer Fisher said. “When we arrived at the chair, David began stating that he could not move (pretending like he lost all function of his limbs). I, along with LEMS, assisted David to his feet and helped him to the chair. Once in the chair, David’s nurse arrived and began to speak with him. He then made eye contact with me and said, ‘I would like to slit your throat,’ twice to me. His nurse was able to redirect his attention towards her so that he may answer questions. After she spoke with him, I approached her and she told me that there was nothing medically wrong with him; she also stated that she asked him several different ways if he had any inclination of killing himself or other people. David replied no each time she asked him.”
Due to the busyness of the emergency room, a doctor was unable to see Rose.
“Before we left, I requested that a UMass officer arrive to assist me,” Officer Fisher said. “Two arrived and wheeled David out to the ambulance bay while I moved my cruiser into a better spot closer to him. David was standing with them with his hands in his pockets. The reason I did not handcuff him to his chair was that he had two hip replacements and I was not worried about him running away from me. I informed David that he needed to place his hands behind his back and that he was coming back to the Leicester Police Department. He would not take his hands out of his pockets. Both UMass Officers and myself had to help him take his hands out of his pockets and placed them behind his back.”
Rose was then handcuffed and placed in the rear passenger compartment of Officer Fisher’s cruiser.
“Once David was in the cruiser, I informed him why he had been arrested. Each time I said a charge he would interrupt me because he wanted specifics for each charge. I then transported David back to the station to be booked in accordance with departmental policy,” Officer Fisher said. “After I returned to the station, I was met by Officer [Christopher] LaDou in the sally port. David began to call me c*nt, officer c*nt and f*gg*t multiple times. He also stated in the booking area that he wanted to slit my throat again.”
After this, Officer Fisher decided to leave the booking area in an attempt to calm Rose down so Officer LaDou and Officer Wilson could complete the booking process.
“Officer LaDou and Officer Wilson completed the booking process while I contacted the Worcester County House of Correction Safekeep program,” Officer Fisher said. The Worcester County House of Correction Safekeep program provides secure, temporary housing for people who require detention but are not being held as pretrial or sentenced inmates, often serving as an overnight regional lockup for local police departments.
“After speaking with Captain [Kevin] Vanarsdalen of the Worcester County House of Correction and giving him all the paperwork needed, we began to get David ready to leave,” Officer Fisher said. “Once David was ready, he was transported to the Worcester County House of Corrections by Officer LaDou.”
David Rose, 61, of Spencer, was charged with the following:
- Assault with Dangerous Weapon
- Threat to Commit Crime
- Assault & Battery on Police Officer
- Resist Arrest
- Disorderly Conduct
Rose was arraigned in East Brookfield District Court on April 13, 2026. Following his arraignment, he was released on $500 cash bail, which was posted by the Massachusetts Bail Fund.
Rose’s next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 13, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in April, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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