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Veteran Haverhill Patrolman on Leave Over Alleged Deportation Talk, Handcuff Display

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A more than 30-year veteran Haverhill police officer was placed on paid leave Friday for allegedly displaying handcuffs and putting minority students in fear over their families’ immigration status. Patrolman Stephen Iannalfo, assigned as a school resource officer at Albert B. Consentino School, told students at the school last Wednesday they could be deported if they are inside the United States illegally, according to at least one parent’s complaint. State Department of Education figures say nearly half of the school’s 958 students are classified as Hispanic and more than a quarter of students’ first language is not English. Details of the exchange were not made public, but Haverhill Police confirmed Friday that Iannalfo was notified by letter Friday. “Officer Iannalfo has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation,” said Capt. Robert P. Pistone, police spokesman.

Bryce Finn

Ex-Delaware Treasurer: Bryce Finn Murder Preventable; Levels Charges at Suspect

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A former elected Delaware state treasurer says the murder of a Haverhill teen in 2017 might have been prevented if officials down south acted on his concerns about the Benner family. Instead, former Treasurer Chipman “Chip” L. Flowers Jr. told WHAV Saturday, he was forced into a political battle which forced him not to seek re-election in 2014. Flowers, who now lives in Massachusetts, said the shooting death of 18-year-old Bryce Finn in the doorway of his Rainbow Drive home might have been averted. “I will go to my grave believing that, even though I worked with law enforcement, had the State of Delaware prosecuted them for what they did to me and my family, that young man (Finn) would still be alive today,” Flowers told WHAV. He alleged 21-year-old Joseph Maxwell “Max” Benner, who was charged Friday in connection with Finn’s murder, had a “horrible temper.” Flowers charged Benner threatened him and his future his wife during a 2014 Fourth of July Parade in Dover, Del.

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Father Hopes Assault on Daughter Brings Awareness, Results in Justice

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Grainy store video shows a child striking an 11-year-old with a high chair last Monday. The father of an 11-year-old, distraught over an incident a week ago where his daughter was bullied and assaulted by another child, is seeking justice as well as understanding. Jason D. Brillon told WHAV his daughter was slapped by a slightly older girl and struck with a piece of furniture at a Bradford doughnut shop. While Haverhill Police have agreed to seek charges against the child in juvenile court, Brillon has widely distributed a store surveillance video showing the assault in hopes of raising awareness. “In the video, she starts off with slapping my daughter in the face eight times,” he said.

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Haverhill Man, 31, Receives Serious Injuries After Acre Shooting

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A 31-year-old Haverhill man is in a Boston hospital with serious injuries after being shot outside on Cedar Street early this morning. He was one of two men who received gunshot wounds, according to Detective Lt. Robert P. Pistone, Haverhill Police spokesman. The other, a 29-year-old Haverhill man was grazed by the bullet, treated at the scene and released. Police were called at 1:25 a.m., Saturday, to 37 Cedar St., near Fourth Avenue. “At this time, Haverhill police do not believe it was a random act,” Pistone told WHAV.

Business Bulletin

New Asian Bistro To Bring 120-Seat Restaurant to Riversedge Plaza

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Floor plan of new Yummy Asian Bistro. A new 120-seat Asian-style restaurant is expected to open this fall at Riversedge Plaza in Haverhill. Yummy Asian Bistro will occupy the site of Olympia Sports, 223 Lincoln Ave. It was recently granted an all alcoholic beverage license from the Haverhill License Commission, pending construction. The restaurant, expected to open in November, will undergo $100,000 worth of renovations and offer 4,000 square feet of dining space.

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Haverhill Police Make Bradford Fentanyl Drug Arrests

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Two men were arrested in Bradford late Tuesday night on charges of trafficking in the deadly drug fentanyl. Jason Bower, 28, of Chesterfield, N.H., and Corey Carpenter, 29, of Winchester, were taken into custody by Haverhill Police just before 11:30 p.m., on South Main Street. Each was charged with fentanyl trafficking, possession of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to distribute and conspiracy to violate drug laws. Bower was also charged with unlicensed driving. Carpenter was further charged with a miscellaneous equipment violation.

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Power Out, Businesses Closed After Car Strikes Utility Pole Saturday

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The scene early Saturday morning in Lafayette Square. (Video capture from witness, used with permission.)

Lafayette Square was closed to traffic, electricity was out and businesses closed most of the day Saturday after a car struck a utility pole and burst into flames. The vehicle was apparently being pursued by police around 2:30 a.m., Saturday, down Broadway and into Lafayette Square when it struck the utility pole near Phaneuf Insurance, 123 Lafayette Square, according to Fire Chief William F. Laliberty. He theorized the car hydroplaned while negotiating the corner and slid into the pole. “It was quite the coordinated effort to put the pole together and get the infrastructure back in place,” the chief said.

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House Break at Murdered Teen’s Home Adds to Mystery

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The Finn residence, seen here the night of an unsolved shooting death, was broken into this past weekend, according to a Haverhill Police incident report. (WHAV News photograph.)

Over the weekend, the Bradford home where 18-year-old Bryce T. Finn was shot and killed last week, was broken into by one or more intruders. The incident adds another layer of mystery to the as-yet unsolved murder of the teen by a gunman the night of Tuesday, June 6. District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s office has said, “Investigators do not believe this was a random act,” but also declined to speculate on a motive for the killing. A Haverhill Police incident report lists a “breaking and entering” at the 54 Rainbow Drive, single-family home Saturday, June 10, just before 4:30 p.m. The Haverhill Police Department’s Records Division said details of the house break cannot be released while the murder investigation continues.