Mashpee woman charged with exposing herself in front of children at Burger King in Hyannis

HYANNIS — On Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at approximately 4:44 p.m., Barnstable Police Officer Thomas Corbett was dispatched to the Burger King at 184 North Street in Hyannis following a report of an intoxicated woman causing a disturbance inside the restaurant.

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

Officer Devin Norton also responded to the scene.

Officer Corbett said that when he arrived on scene, Officer Norton had already made contact with the woman and removed her from the restaurant.

“While speaking with the female, she was slurring her words and having trouble formulating sentences,” Officer Corbett said.

Officer Corbett added that he and Officer Norton repeatedly asked the woman her name, where she lived and why she was at Burger King, but she answered each question with “I don’t know.”

“When I asked the female if she was intoxicated, she stated that she was just tired,” Officer Corbett said.

Officer Corbett said Officer Casey Fernandez arrived on scene to assist and located the woman’s belongings in the restaurant, which included several empty “nip” containers of alcohol.

“It is also important to note that upon arrival Officer Norton observed the female with her pants undone, coming from behind the business’ counter,” Officer Corbett said. “Due to the female party’s inability to care for herself, the observations of all officers, and the female party’s behavior inside of the store, I formulated the opinion that the female party was a danger to herself due to her being highly intoxicated.”

At this time, Officer Corbett said that he and Officer Norton informed the woman that she was being placed into protective custody and handcuffed her behind her back.

“At this time, I ran the female party’s social security number over the radio,” Officer Corbett said. “Dispatch advised that the female party was Susan Paulas.”

According to police, Susan A. Paulas, 57, is a resident of Mashpee, MA.

“While attempting to place Paulas in the rear prisoner compartment of Officer Norton’s cruiser, Paulas began yelling profanities at officers and refused to get in the cruiser,” Officer Corbett said.

While Officer Norton tried to calm Paulas down, Officer Corbett said several Burger King patrons who had just parked and exited their vehicles, stopped to watch as Paulas continued yelling at both officers.

“It appeared as though the patrons of the Burger King did not want to cross the parking lot and approach our position due to Paulas’ volatile behavior,” Officer Corbett said.

After Paulas repeatedly refused to sit in the cruiser, Officer Corbett said that both he and Officer Norton grabbed Paulas, lifted her into the cruiser and closed the door.

“Upon securing Paulas in the cruiser, I was advised by Officer Fernandez that Paulas had been naked from the waist down inside of the store,” Officer Corbett said.

After returning to the police station, Officer Corbett spoke by phone with Burger King’s regional manager.

The regional manager told Officer Corbett that Paulas was inside of Burger King for approximately 30 minutes while he was on location. The regional manager said that she observed Paulas inside the restaurant, drinking alcohol, and that she was clearly intoxicated.

“[The regional manager] stated that Paulas was being loud and disruptive, and yelling at customers inside of the store,” Officer Corbett said.

The regional manager said she told Paulas to leave the restaurant, then returned about five minutes later to check to see if she actually left.

“At this time, she observed Paulas pull her pants down to her ankles, exposing her vagina and buttocks before sitting down at a table,” Officer Corbett said. The regional manager said that when this occurred, there were five customers inside the Burger King, including two young girls and their mother.

“In addition to the customers, three employees of Burger King who were working the registers also observed Paulas’ genitals,” Officer Corbett said. “[The regional manager] stated that she audibly yelled out loud as a result of seeing this, and that members of her staff were shocked at what had occurred.”

Officer Corbett said the regional manager confirmed during their conversation that surveillance footage of the incident existed. He said an Axon Community Request was sent to obtain the footage.

“It is important to note that Susan Paulas has 21 prior entries on her Massachusetts Adult Board of Probation [record],” Officer Corbett said. “These charges include but are not limited to: trespassing, OUI, and assault and battery. In addition to these offenses, Paulas has been charged with disorderly conduct three times to include a prior guilty conviction, making this a subsequent offense.”

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Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident 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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