Crime

Jennings’ Trial on Charges He Assaulted Haverhill Police Officer Delayed Amid Pineau Marijuana Suits

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A prominent Haverhill contractor and ardent marijuana foe has to wait three more months to have his day in court after a judge delayed his trial on charges including assault and battery on a police officer, WHAV can report exclusively. Accused of threating to “f—king kill” Haverhill Police Officer Branden Sheehy during a September 2018 altercation at his Lancaster Street home, Lloyd Jennings appeared in Haverhill District Court Tuesday. His attorney Carmine Lepore asked Judge Mary McCabe to continue the case until mid-December, telling her he did not receive the second page of the complaint from the clerk’s office and needed more time to prepare for trial. Breaking up what he called a “domestic disturbance” on the night of Sept. 2, 2018, Sheehy was met with a “highly confrontational” Jennings, who hurled expletives at the officer before punching him in the shoulder.

Crime

Haverhill Man Allegedly Pulls Machete on Teens After Convenience Store Spat

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A Haverhill man who became irate at a city teen for stepping on his shoe found himself in legal hot water last week after police say he allegedly waved a machete at the boy when he wouldn’t apologize for his behavior. Officer John Orsillo was dispatched to High Street for report of a disturbance at 3:30 p.m. on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 2 and met with two teens and their stepmother outside of the High Street Market convenience store. The boys told Orsillo a man, later determined to be 33-year-old Sotha Voeun, had an argument with them that began inside the store when one of the teens allegedly stepped on Voeun’s shoe and did not apologize. Calling police in fear for her sons’ safety, the boys’ stepmother told police Voeun left the store and allegedly returned with a machete in hand.

Haverhill

No Bail for Haverhill Man Who Allegedly Pulls Knife on Police, Neighbors

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A city man Haverhill Police say admitted to being off his medication for three weeks was ordered held without bail Thursday for allegedly pulling a knife on two police officers during a tense standoff at his Old Ferry Road home. According to court papers obtained by WHAV, 55-year-old disabled veteran Stephen Vavak approached his 69-year-old neighbor Thursday afternoon after she told him his handyman services were no longer needed around her property. Haverhill Police Officer Kevin Billings reports the woman said Vavak “showed her a knife and told her ‘If you were to stab someone with this knife in the stomach, they will bleed out and die.’”

The woman also told police she was disturbed by the fact that Vavak alluded to purchasing guns online even though he “wasn’t allowed” to legally own them. A second complaining witness told Billings Vavak had also mentioned purchasing a “room full of Nazi paraphernalia” he keeps under lock and key. The women also allege Vavak pulled a knife on another neighbor, telling him “I’m a Nazi and I don’t like anyone.”

When Billings and Officer Kevin DeCarvalho went to Vavak’s Old Ferry Road home for a well-being check, he greeted them with a string of expletives.

Crime

Haverhill Police Charge Three With Fentanyl Trafficking in Lafayette Square

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Haverhill Police took 30 grams of suspected fentanyl off the streets over Labor Day weekend after arresting a Haverhill man and two Vermont residents for alleged drug trafficking in the city’s Lafayette Square. Officers Justin Graham and Jordan Bergevine were on patrol Saturday, Aug. 31 when they pulled over a car for having a broken windshield, making it unsafe to drive. During the stop, Graham and Bergevine were “led to believe that possible narcotics violations were occurring,” police said. As a result of the stop, 37-year-old driver Timothy Bilodeau of Granby, Vt., was arrested along with 35-year-old Lee Theriault of Lunenburg, Vt.

Crime

No Injuries After Monday Night Maple Avenue Shooting in Haverhill

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Haverhill Police were dispatched to a Labor Day shooting on the city’s Maple Avenue just after 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2, Capt. Stephen J. Doherty tells WHAV. No injuries were reported after multiple shots were fired in the area of 7 Maple Ave. There was “minor” property damage from a bullet that struck the six-bedroom apartment building, Doherty said. Police continue to search for suspects as the case remains under investigation.

Crime

Police Charge Homeless Haverhill Man With Disorderly Conduct After Disturbance on Winter Street

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A 55-year-old homeless Haverhill man has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after police say he caused a scene in the fourth floor stairwell of the Winter Street YMCA Aug. 28. Haverhill Police Officers Katelyn Tully and Kevin O’Brien responded to 81 Winter St. around 7:15 p.m. to find Adam Matosic “sprawled out on the stairs and yelling,” Capt. Stephen J. Doherty Jr. tells WHAV. Matosic “appeared to be intoxicated,” Doherty said.

Crime

Haverhill Man Who Threatened to Kill 8-Year-Old During White Street Burglary to Spend 6-8 Years in Jail

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The Haverhill man who threatened to kill an eight-year-old girl during a White Street burglary attempt in February has been ordered to spend six to eight years behind bars, a judge ruled Thursday. As part of a plea deal, Warren Street resident Nathan Whittier will also serve a two-year probation term, District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s spokeswoman Carrie Kimball told WHAV. He was indicted by an Essex County grand jury in May on a single felony count of unarmed burglary and assault.

As WHAV first reported in February, Haverhill Police sought the public’s assistance to identify the masked man later determined to be Whittier after he entered the home through an unlocked first floor window just after 5 a.m. on Feb. 3. Court documents revealed Whittier left the little girl quite shaken.

Crime

Haverhill Heroin Trafficker Gets 63 Months in Prison

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A 37-year-old Haverhill man police say brought a young child along while trafficking heroin is set to spend more than five years in federal prison, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray’s office said Thursday. According to court papers, Samuel F. Baez sold heroin to an undercover New Hampshire State Police trooper on five occasions at retail stores in Plaistow, N.H. between January 2016-May 2016, bringing the child with him at least twice. Arrested in June 2016, Baez was in possession of what police say was a “distributable” amount of heroin. All told, 100 grams of the drug was seized from him during the investigation, police said. Baez pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing heroin with intent to distribute in July 2018.