Crime

Feds Charge Haverhill Man, Who Worked as Seabrook Police Officer, with Receiving Child Pornography

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A Haverhill man, who worked as a Seabrook, N.H., police officer and facing multiple counts of child pornography in Massachusetts now must answer to a similar charge in federal court. Forty-nine-year-old John Giarrusso III was arrested Thursday and charged with alleged receipt of child pornography. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said he was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston. Giarrusso had also been scheduled to be in Haverhill District Court Thursday for a status hearing on the state charges. A federal press release reported he had been out on bail on the state charges.

Crime

Police Allege Atkinson Man Defaced Haverhill Stop Signs with Political, Anti-Police Messages

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(Additional photograph below.)

An Atkinson, N.H., man was arraigned in Haverhill District Court Thursday on charges of defacing 36 stops signs in Haverhill with derogatory phases. Joshua Pelletier, 32, was arrested early Thursday morning and also charged with attempting to commit a crime and resisting arrest after local police detectives report finding him with stencils and a can of white spray paint. Messages used the existing word “Stop” to start political phrases. “(Stop) Blaming the Drugs HPD killed Gigga” was one, relaying anti-police sentiment in the aftermath of the death of Francis Gigliotti while in police custody. Other phrases were “(Stop) Crooked Cops,” “(Stop) Government Thugs,” “(Stop) Medicaid Cuts” and “(Stop) Killer Cops.”

When arrested, Pelletier was wearing, what police described as, a ballistic vest and carried a spring-loaded double-edged knife, a police report said.

Crime

Former North Andover Gymnastics Teacher Faces Allegations of Indecent Assault on a Child

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A former gymnastics teacher in North Andover and Danvers, was arraigned Wednesday in Salem Superior Court on two charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14. Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker’s office says the allegations against 53-year-old Dewayne Davenport of Danvers, date back to the early 2000s when Davenport was employed as a gymnastics teacher with Yellow Jacket Gymnastics in Danvers and Palaestra Gymnastics Academy in North Andover, which is now closed. He is scheduled to return to court for a compliance hearing Oct. 2. Appearing today before Judge Thomas Drechsler, Davenport pled not guilty to the charges and was released on personal recognizance with conditions to stay away from, and have no contact with, alleged victims and witnesses.

Crime

Man Receives Prison Time for ‘Pipe Bomb’ That Forced Haverhill Neighborhood Evacuation

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A Haverhill man, accused a year ago of making a “pipe bomb” that could have harmed people and property up to 300 yards away, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to possessing an explosive device and other weapons and ammunition. Essex County Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler said David Farnsworth, now 64, will also serve three years of probation when he must undergo mental health evaluation and treatment and may not possess firearms, incendiary devices or components used in incendiary devices. As WHAV reported first last July, Farnsworth of 5 Rosebud Ave., constructed and hid, the “pipe bomb” in his backyard, prompting Haverhill Police to evacuate neighbors, including residents of the densely populated Churchill Courts apartment complex, for six hours. Farnsworth pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an incendiary device, carrying a firearm without a license, possessing a large-capacity firearm, carrying a firearm without a firearm identification card and possessing ammunition without a firearm identification card. Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker’s office said one of charges came when Farnsworth was stopped in Wrentham while he was working as a commercial truck driver.

Crime

Alleged Bank Robber Now Due to Return to Haverhill District Court Aug. 13

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Ryan Messina, who is alleged to have held up a Pentucket Bank branch in Haverhill on June 2 after commandeering a car in Lawrence, is now due in Haverhill District Count Wednesday, Aug. 13. A dangerousness hearing had been scheduled for this past Tuesday, but was rescheduled. Messina is being held at the Middleton House of Correction. He is represented by Attorney Amy Sixt of Lynn.

Crime

Unrelated Drug Arrest Suggests Man Who Died in Haverhill Custody May Have Used Crack Cocaine

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About an hour and half before Francis Gigliotti became unresponsive during, what was described as, a “struggle” early Friday night with seven Haverhill police officers, a police report suggests he may have been provided with illicit drugs. As of Monday, the man alleged to have provided the drugs to 43-year-old Gigliotti was not charged with doing so, but instead arrested Sunday in connection with a different, alleged drug deal in downtown Haverhill. The state medical examiner also has not yet publicly disclosed what caused Gigliotti’s death. A police report, made public during an unrelated matter Monday in Haverhill District Court, says Gigliotti met with a man wearing a “paintball face shield” and driving a black scooter stopped and gave him something that, the report continues, “is consistent with a hand-to-hand, street-level drug transaction.”

Police go on to report “witnesses from inside 116 White St. confirmed that Gigliotti smoked crack cocaine inside of the building during that time frame and began to freak out within seconds of smoking it.”

As a result, a report reads, police traced a similar scooter on Harrison Street to 43-year-old Joseph Hurley, sporting longer hair and the same type of neck tattoo seen during the alleged transaction with Gigliotti.

Crime

Phony Arrest Scam Leads to Real Arrest of Men Who Swindled Haverhill Couple

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Two men, alleged to have swindled a Haverhill couple by posing as police who held their daughter, were arrested this past Wednesday in Connecticut after Haverhill detectives tracked their whereabouts. Thirty-year-old Harold Perez of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 33-year-old Victor Irving Francisco Bonilla of Bridgeport, Conn., were arrested by Connecticut State Police and charged with false pretenses, swindle, confidence game and all other larceny and are expected to be extradited to Haverhill to face addition charges of extortion by threat of injury, two counts; larceny over $1,200 by single scheme; attempt to commit a crime; and conspiracy. Haverhill Police said Perez and Bonilla contacted the Haverhill couple while pretending to be police and legal officials and falsely claimed the couple’s daughter was involved in a serious car accident and jailed. The men demanded a large cash payment to secure her release that was sent via a rideshare service they arranged. After collecting the money, the men made a second call asking for more money.

Crime

Seabrook Police Officer Giarrusso of Haverhill Returns to Court Aug. 14

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John Giarrusso III, the Haverhill man charged with multiple counts of child pornography while working as a Seabrook, N.H., police officer, is due back in court Thursday, Aug. 14, after a hearing was postponed. Giarrusso had been scheduled for a status hearing in Haverhill District Court Tuesday, but it was rescheduled. Giarrusso, 48, was arrested by Haverhill Police Feb. 26 after the department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but was not arraigned in court until March 3.