Officer Narrative: Reardon, Gregory

Every tax is a pay cut. Every tax cut is a pay raise.
Citizens for Limited Taxation

My Experience Of Being Mugged by the Framingham Police on June 15th, 2007
Officer Narrative: Reardon, Gregory
My Comments Inserted In His Narrative

On 06/15/07 at approximately 0345 hrs, I was travelling north bound on Speen St. from Cochituate Rd. As I was approaching the TJX Corporation I noticed a male party dressed in blue jeans and a dark colored spring jacket walking at a fast pace. The male party was walking in the roadway on the right side of the south bound travel lane in. This particular area is a business district with minimal lighting on the roadway and no sidewalks which resulted in the male having to walk in the roadway. A ramp to the Mass Pike passes over the roadway at this location and the Mass Pike is approximately 100 yards where I observed the male. The nearest house/neighborhood is approximately 1/2 mile away.
With the time of night in mind, the location to which I observed this male, and at the pace he was walking I decided to turn my cruiser around and check on the party's well being. (I figured his car was broken down either on the Mass Pike or just up the road, and he was trying to get to the gas stations on Cochituate Rd.)

Just because someone generates justification for their actions, it does make their actions correct.
What was the probable cause to stop me?
Was I wearing pajamas? Was I only partially dressed?
Did I have a TV or laptop under my arm?
Can the police simply and arbitrarily pull over a car and a do a wellness check on its driver but only during certain hours? If not, do the same rules apply to pedestrians?
The key was "the time of night". This would not have happened one hour later in daylight.
I was walking at a fast pace. The officer concluded I was not well.
The officer could not conceive that some people walk for exercise.
He could have asked me if I had a working cellphone. I did have one.
I was three minutes away from a gas station up ahead (in visual range).
The officer could have driven ahead of me or stayed behind me and observed me as I headed towards Dunkin Donuts.
It is not possible for me to take my normal walk without passing commercial buildings.
Can the police stop anyone at any time under the guise of a wellness check?
The police do not have a general power to stop and search members of the public. All their powers to stop and search derive from various statutes. So when they stop and search someone, they must always specify on what grounds they are conducting the search.
Police on the nightshift seem to be bored silly so they generate business for themselves by stopping anything that moves slowly.
Yet another victim of the Lucifer Effect. Power corrupts these people rather quickly.

When I turned around and pulled along side of him I asked him if he was all set.

I told him I was fine. He chose not to listen to me and did not note my response in his report.
The officer asked me what I was doing out here. I told him I was walking. He chose to ignore my response and did not make note of it in his report.

He continued to walk at his fast pace with his hands in his pockets and he yelled back at me "Leave me alone". I was quite shocked by his response so again I asked him if he was all set. This time he said to me "Mind your own business and get away from me".

How explicit does one have to get?
Which part of "Leave me alone" did he not understand?
Does this officer not understand English?
Is there a requirement to be polite to someone getting in your face?
My hands were in my pockets because it was in the mid fifties or lower. At 60 F or above, I stop wearing a jacket.

His response worried me and this encounter went from a well being check/community care taking encounter to a suspicious activity/well being check. Because of the way he answered me I became worried that he was either up to no good in the business district or he had a mental health issue.

He did not like my responses, so now I become suspicious or I was insane.
Reardon suddenly becomes a Behavior Detection Officer (BDO)
At this point, I concluded the officer was dumber than a bag of hammers.
Reminder to self: Never use words longer than two syllables with the police.

I then pulled my cruiser ahead of him and exited my car and walked over to him and asked him to come speak with me. He told me he did not have to and he walked away from me. I then yelled for him to stop and come over to me and he complied.

I told him repeatedly that I was not interested in his help.

While walking over to me he said "What do you want?" Due to his angry attitude I called my situation in to dispatch so I would get a back up car sent to my location. When I tried to explain to him why I wanted to speak with him he interrupted me and told me I was harassing the citizens of Framingham and that is all that we do is harass people. I then asked him his name and he continued to yell at me and tell me that he did not have to tell me his name, and that he had the right to walk down the street in Framingham. He then put his hands in his pockets and I asked him not to put his hands in his pocket while I was speaking with him.

Only police officers actually care whether my hands are in my pockets.

When he pulled his hands out of his pockets he was holding a 3 in. long silver colored object. He then held the object up and told me that he was recording me. I asked him several times to turn off the audio recording device and not to record me. He refused and told me that he is allowed to record me since he informed me that he was doing so.

I held the recorder up so he could see it and he acknowledged that I did so.

Realizing that he was not going to turn if off I continued with my investigation as to who he is and why he was in this area. I again asked him his name and he told me that he doesn't have a name. Several more times over the course of our encounter he would tell me that he doesn't know his name. When I asked him where he was from he told me that he did not know.

If he knows that there is no explicit requirement for me to identify myself, then why does he insist on knowing my name.
He was very adamant about knowing my name. This is called police harrassment, pure and simple.
In this case of harassment, who determines whether it's harassment? The officer or myself?

Again I explained to him the reason for the encounter and again he told me that he did not know his name. He then told me that I was going to have to arrest him. I told him I was not going to arrest him. He then stated that he would be here for a while. (At this time I still was not sure if this was a potentially criminal situation or a mental health issue.) Again I asked him his name and he told me that I should ask Mr. Carl about the guy who walks at night. I asked him who Mr. Carl was and he called me an "Idiot" and told me it was Chief Carl.
When I again asked him his name he responded by asking me my name. I told him that my name was on my chest. He told me that it was too dark to see my chest so I shined my stinger flashlight on my chest for him to read my name. He proceeded to reach in his right pocket (I don't know if it was his jacket or pants), and point a small blue flashlight at me. He then approached me quickly and got about 1.5 feet away from me as he was trying to read my shirt. Prior to this I was very nervous about this male so I kept about 5 feet between us. However when I shined my flashlight on my chest I looked down to make sure my name tag was illuminated. In that second he approached me very quickly and was able to get right on me.

He apparently did not know his name when I asked him.
I took one step toward him.
I'm near sighted and can only read up close

Once he was up close to me I stepped to my left to create some distance from him. I then reached out with my left hand and took hold of the recorder in his left hand. (Through past training and experience I know that weapons can be disguised as different objects and I not only did not want this recorder in my face for safety issues but I also wanted to make sure it was in fact just a recorder. He pulled the recorder away from me and then smacked my left forearm with his right hand.

He took hold of the wrist attached to the hand that had the recorder.
Now the recorder I showed him earlier was more of a weapon.

The officer committed assault and battery first by grabbing my right wrist. As a natural reaction to people who grap my right wrist, I used my left arm to pry this thumb loose so he would let go.

I had the recorder in my right hand due to it's greater dexterity.

At this time in my mind the encounter had just become an arrest. However I wanted to wait for back up because I was still unsure of the male's mental stability and I wanted to avoid a potential wrestling match on the side of the road. While waiting for back up I confronted him about hitting me and several times he denied hitting my arm.

I never hit his arm. I brushed his arm while trying to pry his thumb loose and he let go.

He then told me that I was either going to have to arrest me or let him go. I told him that I was going to arrest him and I asked him to turn around and place his hands behind his back. He complied and I proceeded to handcuff him (double lock) and place him under arrest. As I was arresting him he stated "Good, this will go great in the lawsuit." I then checked his person for any weapons or an ID. On him he had a very small pocket knife. I also located his ID through which he became known to me as Wolfe, Harold, 08/17/49. He was then seated in the rear of my cruiser and transported back to the station o be booked. During transport I advised him of his Miranda rights however he would not respond to me when I asked him if he understood his rights.
Upon the conclusion of the incident Mr. Wolfe was charged with the following charges: Ch. 265/13D Assault and Battery on a Public Employee and Ch. 272/53 Disorderly Conduct.
Taken into evidence was the flashlight, the recorder, as well as the taped copy of the conversation he recorded from his recorder.

I guess he thought the flashlight was also a weapon.... who can tell what goes on in his little mind?

Ofc. Gregory M. Reardon, #283,

My Experience Of Being Mugged by the Framingham Police on June 15th, 2007 Officer Narrative: Reardon, Gregory My Comments Inserted In His Narrative
On 06/15/07 at approximately 0345 hrs, I was travelling north bound on Speen St. from Cochituate Rd. As I was approaching the TJX Corporation I noticed a male party dressed in blue jeans and a dark colored spring jacket walking at a fast pace. The male party was walking in the roadway on the right side of the south bound travel lane in. This particular area is a business district with minimal lighting on the roadway and no sidewalks which resulted in the male having to walk in the roadway. A ramp to the Mass Pike passes over the roadway at this location and the Mass Pike is approximately 100 yards where I observed the male. The nearest house/neighborhood is approximately 1/2 mile away. With the time of night in mind, the location to which I observed this male, and at the pace he was walking I decided to turn my cruiser around and check on the party's well being. (I figured his car was broken down either on the Mass Pike or just up the road, and he was trying to get to the gas stations on Cochituate Rd.) Just because someone generates justification for their actions, it does make their actions correct. What was the probable cause to stop me? Was I wearing pajamas? Was I only partially dressed? Did I have a TV or laptop under my arm? Can the police simply and arbitrarily pull over a car and a do a wellness check on its driver but only during certain hours? If not, do the same rules apply to pedestrians? The key was "the time of night". This would not have happened one hour later in daylight. I was walking at a fast pace. The officer concluded I was not well. The officer could not conceive that some people walk for exercise. He could have asked me if I had a working cellphone. I did have one. I was three minutes away from a gas station up ahead (in visual range). The officer could have driven ahead of me or stayed behind me and observed me as I headed towards Dunkin Donuts. It is not possible for me to take my normal walk without passing commercial buildings. Can the police stop anyone at any time under the guise of a wellness check? The police do not have a general power to stop and search members of the public. All their powers to stop and search derive from various statutes. So when they stop and search someone, they must always specify on what grounds they are conducting the search. Police on the nightshift seem to be bored silly so they generate business for themselves by stopping anything that moves slowly. Yet another victim of the Lucifer Effect. Power corrupts these people rather quickly. When I turned around and pulled along side of him I asked him if he was all set. I told him I was fine. He chose not to listen to me and did not note my response in his report. The officer asked me what I was doing out here. I told him I was walking. He chose to ignore my response and did not make note of it in his report. He continued to walk at his fast pace with his hands in his pockets and he yelled back at me "Leave me alone". I was quite shocked by his response so again I asked him if he was all set. This time he said to me "Mind your own business and get away from me". How explicit does one have to get? Which part of "Leave me alone" did he not understand? Does this officer not understand English? Is there a requirement to be polite to someone getting in your face? My hands were in my pockets because it was in the mid fifties or lower. At 60 F or above, I stop wearing a jacket. His response worried me and this encounter went from a well being check/community care taking encounter to a suspicious activity/well being check. Because of the way he answered me I became worried that he was either up to no good in the business district or he had a mental health issue. He did not like my responses, so now I become suspicious or I was insane. Reardon suddenly becomes a Behavior Detection Officer (BDO) At this point, I concluded the officer was dumber than a bag of hammers. Reminder to self: Never use words longer than two syllables with the police. I then pulled my cruiser ahead of him and exited my car and walked over to him and asked him to come speak with me. He told me he did not have to and he walked away from me. I then yelled for him to stop and come over to me and he complied. I told him repeatedly that I was not interested in his help. While walking over to me he said "What do you want?" Due to his angry attitude I called my situation in to dispatch so I would get a back up car sent to my location. When I tried to explain to him why I wanted to speak with him he interrupted me and told me I was harassing the citizens of Framingham and that is all that we do is harass people. I then asked him his name and he continued to yell at me and tell me that he did not have to tell me his name, and that he had the right to walk down the street in Framingham. He then put his hands in his pockets and I asked him not to put his hands in his pocket while I was speaking with him. Only police officers actually care whether my hands are in my pockets. When he pulled his hands out of his pockets he was holding a 3 in. long silver colored object. He then held the object up and told me that he was recording me. I asked him several times to turn off the audio recording device and not to record me. He refused and told me that he is allowed to record me since he informed me that he was doing so. I held the recorder up so he could see it and he acknowledged that I did so. Realizing that he was not going to turn if off I continued with my investigation as to who he is and why he was in this area. I again asked him his name and he told me that he doesn't have a name. Several more times over the course of our encounter he would tell me that he doesn't know his name. When I asked him where he was from he told me that he did not know. If he knows that there is no explicit requirement for me to identify myself, then why does he insist on knowing my name. He was very adamant about knowing my name. This is called police harrassment, pure and simple. In this case of harassment, who determines whether it's harassment? The officer or myself? Again I explained to him the reason for the encounter and again he told me that he did not know his name. He then told me that I was going to have to arrest him. I told him I was not going to arrest him. He then stated that he would be here for a while. (At this time I still was not sure if this was a potentially criminal situation or a mental health issue.) Again I asked him his name and he told me that I should ask Mr. Carl about the guy who walks at night. I asked him who Mr. Carl was and he called me an "Idiot" and told me it was Chief Carl. When I again asked him his name he responded by asking me my name. I told him that my name was on my chest. He told me that it was too dark to see my chest so I shined my stinger flashlight on my chest for him to read my name. He proceeded to reach in his right pocket (I don't know if it was his jacket or pants), and point a small blue flashlight at me. He then approached me quickly and got about 1.5 feet away from me as he was trying to read my shirt. Prior to this I was very nervous about this male so I kept about 5 feet between us. However when I shined my flashlight on my chest I looked down to make sure my name tag was illuminated. In that second he approached me very quickly and was able to get right on me. He apparently did not know his name when I asked him. I took one step toward him. I'm near sighted and can only read up close Once he was up close to me I stepped to my left to create some distance from him. I then reached out with my left hand and took hold of the recorder in his left hand. (Through past training and experience I know that weapons can be disguised as different objects and I not only did not want this recorder in my face for safety issues but I also wanted to make sure it was in fact just a recorder. He pulled the recorder away from me and then smacked my left forearm with his right hand. He took hold of the wrist attached to the hand that had the recorder. Now the recorder I showed him earlier was more of a weapon. The officer committed assault and battery first by grabbing my right wrist. As a natural reaction to people who grap my right wrist, I used my left arm to pry this thumb loose so he would let go. I had the recorder in my right hand due to it's greater dexterity. At this time in my mind the encounter had just become an arrest. However I wanted to wait for back up because I was still unsure of the male's mental stability and I wanted to avoid a potential wrestling match on the side of the road. While waiting for back up I confronted him about hitting me and several times he denied hitting my arm. I never hit his arm. I brushed his arm while trying to pry his thumb loose and he let go. He then told me that I was either going to have to arrest me or let him go. I told him that I was going to arrest him and I asked him to turn around and place his hands behind his back. He complied and I proceeded to handcuff him (double lock) and place him under arrest. As I was arresting him he stated "Good, this will go great in the lawsuit." I then checked his person for any weapons or an ID. On him he had a very small pocket knife. I also located his ID through which he became known to me as Wolfe, Harold, 08/17/49. He was then seated in the rear of my cruiser and transported back to the station o be booked. During transport I advised him of his Miranda rights however he would not respond to me when I asked him if he understood his rights. Upon the conclusion of the incident Mr. Wolfe was charged with the following charges: Ch. 265/13D Assault and Battery on a Public Employee and Ch. 272/53 Disorderly Conduct. Taken into evidence was the flashlight, the recorder, as well as the taped copy of the conversation he recorded from his recorder. I guess he thought the flashlight was also a weapon.... who can tell what goes on in his little mind? Ofc. Gregory M. Reardon, #283,

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com