Crime

Haverhill Man, Who Shot Himself with Sawed-Off Shotgun, Gets More Than Two Years in Prison

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A Haverhill man, who accidentally shot himself on Fountain Street during August of 2018, was sentenced yesterday to more than two years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Kadeem Pimentel, 25, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris in Boston to 26 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Pimentel pleaded guilty last Sept. 25, to being a felon in possession of a firearm. When Pimental accidentally shot himself in 2018, there were panicked, but false, reports of a drive-by shooting.

Region

In Court, Trinity EMS Agrees to Stop Certain Debt Collection Practices and Pay $50K Restitution

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Haverhill’s ambulance provider has agreed to stop certain debt collection efforts and pay $50,000 to settle claims it illegally threatened consumers with arrest. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Lowell-based Trinity EMS agreed this week in Suffolk Superior Court to cancel nearly $1.6 million in debt collections and pay $50,000 in restitution. The issue surrounds ambulance debts for nearly 880 consumers who were threatened by debt collection attorney Robert White. Healey said Trinity obtained the outside collections help through Stevens Business Services of Lowell. Trinity and Stevens also agreed to help repair the credit of all consumers sued by White on Trinity’s behalf and must repay those most affected by White’s misconduct.

Haverhill

With Haverhill Growth, Councilor Jordan Warns of Need to Beef Up Public Safety Staffing

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The City of Haverhill is growing rapidly and, as a result, City Councilor Timothy J. Jordan says plans must to be in place to ensure the police and fire departments do not become overwhelmed by a proliferating population. Jordan, speaking at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, pointed to some of the city’s recent and planned residential construction projects, and the population increases they will bring, as indicators of the need to beef up both police and fire personnel. “Some of the impact that this will have on our infrastructure relates to the number of calls that our police and fire departments will need to respond to. We note that our staffing levels are below area cities and towns, so we’re already behind the curve. It seems with this additional housing going in, it’s going to exacerbate the problem that we already have,” he said.

Crime

Three Haverhill Police Receive Injuries; Pepper Spray, Tase Alleged Assailant in Loose Dog Case

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A 51-year-old man returns to court Wednesday after being charged with assaulting three Haverhill police officers Friday who were investigating a loose dog complaint. Following up on a story reported first by WHAV News Monday morning, 51-year-old Theodore D. Gilford, 268 Brandy Brow Road, Merrimac, appeared before Haverhill District Court First Justice Patricia Dowling to answer to charges of assault and battery on police officers, criminal harassment, witness intimidation, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Gilford’s address begins in Merrimac, but his home is physically located in Haverhill. Police say they were forced to pepper spray and Tase Gilford after he resisted arrest in woods outside by Sgt. Jamie R. Landry and Officers and Penny A. Portalla and Jason E. Pearl.

Crime

‘Chaotic’ Haverhill Apartment Brawl Sends North Andover Man to Hospital with Stab Wound

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A brawl between tenants, their parents and the landlord Monday in a quiet Haverhill neighborhood sent a 53-year-old North Andover man to the hospital with a non-life-threatening stab wound. As WHAV reported on the air Tuesday, 27-year-old-old Norman Joncas III of Lawrence was arrested at 12:19 p.m., at 17 Downing Ave., off Primrose Street. He was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon—a steak knife. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Haverhill District Court and was ordered to return March 31. In a report, police described the situation inside the home as “chaotic” with multiple people bleeding and “shouting at each other and also to officers in an attempt to relay what had transpired.”

Haverhill Police found the 53-year-old victim outside, sitting on a porch with his left leg elevated and a tourniquet wrapped to control bleeding.

WHAV Investigates

WHAV Investigates: Secret Haverhill DPW Report May be Unmasked with Naming of New Police Recruit

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Haverhill is sending 13 new recruits to the police academy and one member of the class may have unwittingly played a role in the city’s refusal in the last year to turn over a secret report on an investigation into the Highway Department. For more than a year, WHAV’s investigative team mounted several challenges to gain release of an 83-page report detailing Haverhill Police’s 2018 investigation of the city’s Public Works Department. After being ordered by the state to turn an unredacted copy over to WHAV, the city won a reprieve last April. The city’s outside counsel, attorney Michelle E. Randazzo, claimed the report was needed to help the city defend itself against a discrimination case brought by a then-unnamed Highway Department employee. “While we believe that this complaint has no merit, we are obligated to defend it and will do so vigorously,” she said, adding the unnamed individual “directly implicates the matters addressed in the requested record.”

Timothy Campbell, one of the city’s new police recruits, told WHAV Wednesday he is dropping the complaint before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Crime

Haverhill Police Arrest Plaistow, N.H., Man on Fentanyl Trafficking, Other Drug Charge

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A 34-year-old Plaistow, N.H., man is facing a charge of trafficking in the deadly drug fentanyl, following his arrest by Haverhill Police Monday. Isael Sanchez, of 73 Forrest St., Plaistow, N.H., was arrested just before midnight at 323 Main St., and charged with fentanyl trafficking and possession of drugs with intent to distribute. He was also arrested on an unidentified warrant by Detective Sean Harrison. Arrested at the same and place was Joshua Robinson, 27, of 19 Lansing Ave., Haverhill, on a warrant.

Region

Sheriff Coppinger Dedicates Prison Addiction Treatment Center; More Than 300 Receiving Services

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More than 300 offenders serving time in Essex County jails are now receiving drug addiction and treatment services. Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger and state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders dedicated the new Medication Assisted Treatment Center Thursday at the Middleton House of Correction. “Today’s event celebrates the accomplishment of the newly completed physical space that delivers the described MAT services. Within the 1,600 square foot center, patients can receive all necessary interventions, treatment and services necessary for patient care and success. Since the start of MAT services at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department 339 inmates have become patients,” Coppinger said.