Police Report

Compiled by SCOTT MERZBACH

Published on September 11, 2009

AMHERST POLICE

* Nicholas Deghetaldi, 21, of Watsonville, Calif., was arrested Tuesday at 12:51 a.m. by Hampshire College security on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Amherst police said.

* Police took reports of several vehicles being broken into Monday at Amherst apartment complexes, with windows smashed and items missing from some of them.

At 5:37 a.m., three residents at The Brook on East Hadley Road reported their vehicles had been entered, with a purse stolen from one and the glove compartments rummaged through in the others. Police were called at 9:55 a.m. and 10:23 a.m. by Hawkins Meadow residents after two vehicles parked at the Northampton Road site were entered and GPS units were stolen from both.

Finally, at 5:51 p.m. and 6 p.m., items were reported stolen from two vehicles parked at Mill Valley Estates on Riverglade Drive after the windows were found smashed.

* A man wanted on narcotics violations in New York state was arrested on Hobart Lane on the night of Sept. 5.

Brandon R. Whitney, 32, of East Templeton, was arrested at 10:19 p.m. on a fugitive from justice warrant after he was located in a vehicle parked illegally on the street, police said.

* Eric M. Deblois, 21, of Seekonk, was arrested Sept. 5 at 7:56 p.m. on South Pleasant Street on charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a class D substance, marijuana, with intent to distribute and committing a drug violation near a school, police said.

* Police are investigating an incident in which a man said he was walking in an alleyway on Main Street Sept. 5 around 2 a.m. when he was approached by a man wielding a knife. The victim gave the man his wallet, but didn't report the incident to police until 9:37 a.m.

* Daniel J. Richard, 20, of South Hadley, was arrested Sept. 5 at 1:58 a.m. on West Street on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, speeding and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, police said. Richard was stopped after the vehicle nearly struck a bicycle officer, police said.

* Felix Melendez, 39, of Springfield, was arrested Sept. 4 at 10:11 p.m. on South Prospect Street on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, operating a motor vehicle with no inspection sticker and causing child endangerment while under the influence of alcohol, police said

Two small children were riding in the vehicle at the time of the stop, police said.

* One homeless man told police Sept. 3 at 11:11 p.m. that another homeless man had taken $80 from him.

* A television, X-box console and X-box games valued at more than $250 were reported taken from an unlocked Phillips Street residence sometime on Sept. 2 and reported to police the following day at 2:19 p.m.

* Sarah Kristin, 21, of Winthrop, was arrested Sept. 2 at 2:09 a.m. on Main Street on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and failure to stay within marked lanes, police said.

* Joshua F. Grammel, 21, of Fitchburg, was arrested Sept. 2 at 12:29 a.m. on South East Street near Fort River School on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and failure to stop at a stop sign, police said.

* A homeless man who deliberately damaged a Harley Davidson motorcycle parked on North Pleasant Street by tipping it over was placed under arrest on the night of Sept. 1.

Ralph W. Reed, 45, who gave police an address as the streets of Amherst, was arrested at 7:47 p.m. on North Pleasant Street on a charge of wanton destruction of property over $250, police said.

Reed was observed pulling on a large construction sign which the kickstand for the 2007 Heritage Softtail motorcycle, valued at $17,000, was set up against. After continuing to yank on the sign, placed there to alert motorists to the downtown paving project, the motorcycle finally toppled, damaging its saddlebag, passenger floor board, crash bar and hand grips.

Police estimated the damage at $800 after speaking with its owner, who was located inside Mom's Tattoo Studio on North Pleasant Street.

After causing the damage to the motorcycle, Reed went up to a nearby tree and began pulling branches off of it and yelling at the tree, at which time he was placed under arrest.

* Robert W. Auffinger, 30, who provided an address as the streets of Amherst, was arrested Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. at a North Pleasant Street location on an outstanding warrant, police said.

* A 40-year-old Amherst man will be summoned to court on charges of intimidating a witness and domestic assault after he put his hands around a woman's neck and attempted to grab her cell phone during an argument at a South Amherst home Sept. 1 at 11:39 a.m., police said.

* Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, police recovered a backpack, a canvas bag, a bicycle, three sets of keys, a license, a $10 bill, a $50 bill, a purse and a wallet and took a report of a lost passport and a lost license plate. Police checked the well being of five residents, conducted speed checks on Potwine Lane, East Pleasant Street and North Pleasant Street, provided four courtesy escorts and stopped vehicles on Amherst streets and issued two warnings for operating without headlights, seven warnings for operating with malfunctioning license plate lights, one warning for operating with a malfunctioning taillight, one warning for operating with an expired license, two warnings for failure to stay within marked lanes, one warning for operating with an improper license plate, one warning for failure to signal and one warning for failure to stop at a red light.

Police responded to false alarms at 10 businesses, three residences and the high school and checked on vehicles parked at the high school, the rifle range at the Notch, the parking garage, Town Hall, Echo Village Apartments, Mill Valley Estates and Mount Pollux Conservation Area and on College Street, Rolling Ridge Road and Hobart Lane.

HADLEY POLICE

* Vehicles driven by Esther Melnick Schneier, 83, of Miami, Fla., and Jason A. Gougeon, 27, of Belchertown, collided on South Maple Street Sept. 1 at 4:30 p.m., police said. Gougeon was transported by Amherst Fire Department ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, where he was treated and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

UMASS POLICE

* Brendon Struck, 20, of Belchertown Road, Amherst, was arrested Sept. 1 at 12:38 a.m. on North Pleasant Street on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, being a minor in possession of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle with a lights violation, police said.

DAY-BY-DAY AMHERST POLICE CALLS

TUESDAY, AUG. 25

NOISE COMPLAINTS

* 7:59 p.m. - Police issued a verbal warning to Mill Hollow Apartments residents holding a loud cookout with a live band that was bothering neighbors.

ANIMAL COMPLAINTS

* 9:58 a.m. - A loose dog was located on Belchertown Road, but police were unable to find its owner.

MOTOR VEHICLE

ACCIDENTS

* 2:01 a.m. - A vehicle went off Chapel Road into a fence and tree before coming to a rest, police said. The driver was not injured, but the vehicle had to be towed from the scene, police said.

* 2:43 p.m. and 3:54 p.m. - Minor two-car accidents with no personal injuries took place at the corner of University Drive and Northampton Road and in the parking lot of Leader Home Center on College Street, police said.

* 4:41 p.m. - A vehicle being parked on Spring Street struck a parked vehicle, causing minor damage, police said.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

* 2:40 a.m. - A woman missing from a North Pleasant Street home after going outside to put items in her vehicle was located safely a few hours later. Police determined she had left her home, and kept the trunk to her vehicle open, when she was picked up by a friend and had not told anyone she was leaving.

LARCENY

* 1:23 p.m. - Management at Lane Quarry reported that a customer wrote $750 in bad checks the business.

* 2:52 p.m. - The front license plate was stolen from a vehicle parked on Valley View Circle.

* 10:26 p.m. - Police are investigating an incident at the Hess gas station in which the ex-girlfriend of a man working there took an energy drink without paying for it.

TRAFFIC

* 9:43 p.m. - Two homeless men attempting to direct traffic, including a PVTA bus, while standing in the middle of North Pleasant Street, left before police got there.