ATHOL — On Saturday, May 16, 2026, at approximately 1:23 a.m., Athol Police Sergeant Albert O’Lari was patrolling the South Street area when he observed a group of people fighting outside Athol Spirits.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Sergeant Albert O’Lari and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Sergeant O’Lari radioed dispatch and asked for Officer Brandon Newell to respond to the scene to assist. During the call, the dispatcher advised him that she had just received four 911 calls concerning the fight outside Athol Spirits.
Sergeant O’Lari observed a man lying in the middle of the street and, after checking on him, determined that he was breathing and able to speak.
“The male party was identified as Travis Miller and he had friends tending to him,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Sergeant O’Lari reported that the scene was chaotic, with numerous people yelling and screaming at him. He requested assistance from the Athol Fire Department and the Orange Police Department.
Sergeant Adam Cooley and Officer Evangeline Cakounes, both of the Orange Police Department, arrived on scene to assist, along with State Trooper Anthony Negron from the Athol Barracks.
Once backup arrived, Sergeant O’Lari began his investigation.
“[I] spoke with Jessica [last name redacted] who explained that Shayne Favreau pulled a knife out on her and threaten to stab her,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
According to police, Shayne K. Favreau, 43, is a resident of Athol, MA.
“Travis Miller stepped in to defend her, and Mr. Favreau knocked Mr. Miller to the ground and then kicked him in the head, rendering him dazed on the ground,” Sergeant O’Lari said. Adding, “Mr. Favreau took his knife and also threaten to stab Mr Miller.”
Jessica stated that her brother, Julio, stepped in to help, at which point Favreau threatened to stab him with a knife. Sergeant O’Lari added that no one was stabbed in the altercation.
“[I] also spoke with Julio [last name redacted] who stated that Mr. Favreau did threaten to stab him with a knife,” Sergeant O’Lari said. Adding, “[Julio] and [Jessica] stated that Mr. Favreau threw his knife over the fence of the S.H.E. Shed restaurant.”
After throwing the knife over the fence, Favreau allegedly broke away from the fight and ran down South Street toward Freedom Street.
Sergeant O’Lari spoke with another witness, Nicholas, who stated that he chased Favreau down and beat him in the area of Freedom and South streets.
“Lieutenant Cooley responded to that area with [Nicholas] and Mr. Favreau was not located,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Sergeant O’Lari said that, once the scene was secure, he made contact with the owner of the S.H.E. Shed restaurant, who allowed him to enter the locked fence area to look for the knife. Sergeant O’Lari reported that after entering the area, he located and photographed the knife before collecting it as evidence.
Sergeant O’Lari said he was then directed toward a woman named Connie, who is Miller’s girlfriend.
Sergeant O’Lari asked Connie what she observed that night.
“As the conversation was happening, [Connie] believed she just saw Mr. Favreau drive by in a vehicle,” Sergeant O’Lari reported.
Sergeant O’Lari said he then quickly returned to his cruiser and went after the vehicle.
“[I] was able to catch up to the vehicle at the Uptown Common,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “The operator was extremely cooperative with [me] and understood why he was being stopped. The vehicle and operator had nothing to do with this call.”
Sergeant O’Lari then returned to the scene and made contact with the witnesses again.
“None of the eye witnesses involved in this fight wanted to press charges or cooperate with further statements to police in this investigation,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “[Connie] stated that she might come down to the police department tomorrow to give a better statement. All witnesses were advised they will be added to the police report investigation.”
Sergeant O’Lari then asked Officer Newell to go to Athol Hospital, take some photos of Miller, and get his side of the story.
“Mr. Miller did not allow Officer Newell to take pictures of his injuries,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “Mr. Miller did not wish to give a statement about what happened and stated he will take care of this himself.”
Sergeant O’Lari learned that UMass Worcester Life Flight had been notified to respond to Athol Hospital and transfer Miller to UMass Memorial Medical Center for a higher level of care.
Sergeant O’Lari was advised that Miller required a higher level of care because he had lost consciousness several times during his medical evaluation.
“[I] knew that Mr. Favreau was living at 181 Main Street, Apt. #[redacted],” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Sergeant O’Lari, Lieutenant Cooley, Officer Cakounes, and Trooper Negron then responded to the address to locate and speak with Favreau.
Favreau answered the door moments after the officers knocked.
Sergeant O’Lari asked Favreau what had happened that night.
“Mr. Favreau explained he was jumped by a bunch of people and he ran home,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “Lieutenant Cooley noticed that Mr. Favreau was not wearing shoes. Lieutenant Cooley asked Mr. Favreau what shoes he was wearing during the fight. Mr. Favreau ran back inside and presented a black pair of Nike shoes.”
The officers immediately observed blood on the right side of the right shoe, according to Sergeant O’Lari.
Sergeant O’Lari then informed Favreau he was under arrest for assault and battery.
“Mr. Favreau cooperated with all police instructions,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “Mr. Favreau allowed the police to enter his apartment and grab his cell phone, wallet, and keys.”
Sergeant O’Lari transported Favreau to the station for booking.
At the station, Sergeant O’Lari said he read Favreau his Miranda rights and explained them to him. Favreau stated that he understood and wanted to give his account of what had happened.
“Mr. Favreau explained he got into an argument with Jessica [last name redacted], and some guy that he did not know pulled a knife and started to charge at him,” Sergeant O’Lari said, adding that Favreau said he was able to kick the guy in the chest and knock him to the ground.
“Mr. Favreau stated the guy still had the knife and was swinging it around and that’s when he kicked him right in the face,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “Mr. Favreau stated the male party dropped the knife and he picked it up and threw it over the fence at the restaurant.”
Favreau said that when more people started to charge at him, he did pull out a knife he had in his pocket in order to protect himself.
“Mr. Favreau stated he ran away from the scene to get away,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Sergeant O’Lari asked Favreau if another man involved in the argument had assaulted him and knocked him to the ground.
“Mr. Favreau stated he was not beat down by anybody,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Sergeant O’Lari noted that he did not observe any marks or bruises on Favreau.
“[I] believe that [Nicholas] misspoke when he stated he beat Mr. Favreau down to the ground,” Sergeant O’Lari added.
Sergeant O’Lari said he booked Favreau without incident.
Shayne Favreau, 43, of Athol, was charged with the following:
- Aggravated Assault & Battery: For causing such bodily harm to Miller that it resulted in him losing consciousness.
- Assault & Battery (shod foot): “For kicking Mr. Miller directly in the face when he was on the ground. (The Nike shoes are also entered in as evidence for this investigation),” Sergeant O’Lari explained.
- Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (three counts): “For threatening and swinging the knife toward Julio [last name redacted], Jessica [last name redacted] and Travis Miller,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Favreau’s bail was set at $2,500. Favreau posted bail and was released.
While he was being released, Sergeant O’Lari asked Favreau if he would voluntarily surrender the knife he said he had pulled in self-defense.
“Mr. Favreau stated he would do so,” Sergeant O’Lari said. Sergeant O’Lari then followed Favreau to his apartment, where Favreau retrieved the knife and handed it to him.
Sergeant O’Lari entered Favreau’s knife into evidence.
On May 16, 2026, at approximately 9:20 a.m., Sergeant O’Lari said he made contact with the manager of Athol Spirits to obtain the store’s surveillance footage from the time of the incident.
“[The manager] was able to load the video and send it the Athol Police Department’s cell,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “Due to troubles with their system, [the manager] was only able to send it in a text message fashion. Sergeant Craig Deveneau was able to assist with loading it onto the police department email system.”
Sergeant O’Lari said he then watched the two videos that were sent over.
“The first video shows Mr. Favreau walking backwards on South Street and it appears he is having words with a group of people walking approximately 40 feet behind him,” Sergeant O’Lari explained. “At a certain point, a subject is seen running toward Mr. Favreau.”
Sergeant O’Lari said the video shows Favreau defending himself as a man charged at him.
“The man is knocked to the ground and both go out of view,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “This video also shows other individuals running toward Mr. Favreau. All parties go out of view, where the other camera comes into play.”
In the second video, Sergeant O’Lari said Favreau is seen kicking Miller twice when he’s on the ground. Favreau then picks something up next to Miller, but Sergeant O’Lari said he couldn’t see what Favreau did with it in the video.
“When the other individuals got close to Mr. Favreau, he fled the scene,” Sergeant O’Lari said. Later adding, “Based upon watching the video, it shows that Mr. Miller became the aggressor by charging at Mr. Favreau with a reported knife in his hand.”
Sergeant O’Lari said that based upon this information, and the statement and cooperation of Favreau, he will also be charging Travis Miller, 38, of Athol, with assault with a dangerous weapon.
On May 16, 2026, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Sergeant O’Lari said he spoke with Miller’s roommate who explained that he had just left UMass Memorial Medical Center after visiting Miller.
Miller’s roommate told Sergeant O’Lari that the doctors informed him that Miller was intubated because of his high level of intoxication.
“The doctors reported they will remove the intubation in a few hours when the intoxication comes down to a normal level,” Sergeant O’Lari added.
Sergeant O’Lari asked Miller’s roommate to keep him informed of any changes.
“[Miller’s roommate] reported the medical staff will be calling him in a few hours with an update,” Sergeant O’Lari said. “[Miller’s roommate] stated he is on his way back to town to grab Mr. Miller’s phone and wallet and will bring them back to UMass later on today.”
Sergeant O’Lari reported that he also contacted Connie by phone to discuss the incident further.
“[Connie] stated she was going to be unavailable to talk today but will call back tomorrow,” Sergeant O’Lari said.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in May, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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