Narrative

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, at 1249, while assigned to marked unit East-2, I was parked in the side lot next to Target, located at 160 Somerville Avenue, when I observed a black male wearing a red and black plaid hat, dark shirt and pants, with a backpack, being followed by two males, later identified as the two Loss Prevention officers from Target, XXXXX and YYYYY. YYYYY ran up to my cruiser just as the call from Target for a shoplifter came through on my MDT. I asked YYYYY if the party XXXXX was following was the shoplifter and he replied “Yes.” I then activated my emergency lights and sirens and radioed to Somerville Control that I would be assisting XXXXX and YYYYY in apprehending the suspect, later identified as Mr. Atem Agok. Mr. Agok is well known to the Somerville Police Department for past shoplifting incidents from a few other local businesses and has been physically assaultive to officers in the past.

 

Officer Rivera and Detective Legros were both on a detail assignment at Medford Street and Ward Street and assisted in stopping Mr. Agok. Officers Monaco and Collette, both assigned to marked units East-3 and East-4 respectively, also assisted. When we stopped Mr. Agok, he immediately became argumentative and began screaming and refusing to hand over his backpack for us to search. Mr. Agok kept repeating “These are my clothes!” We asked Mr. Agok several times to stop screaming and to hand over his backpack but he kept refusing. As Officer Rivera reached for Mr. Agok’s backpack to take from him since Mr. Agok refused to hand it over, Mr. Agok aggressively tried to snatch and pull the backpack back from Officer Rivera, forcing Detective Legros and Officer Monaco to physically restrain Mr. Agok. I then placed Mr. Agok in handcuffs for all of our protection while we searched his bag and his person for stolen merchandise.

 

XXXXX and YYYYY then informed us that Mr. Agok had taken a red jacket and a pair of khaki cargo pants, concealed them in his backpack, and then walked out of the store without paying for either item. We were able to locate the jacket and pants, still containing tags on them in the backpack. Mr. Agok did not have a receipt proving he had purchased these items. Mr. Agok the whole time kept screaming and shouting “I’m going to sue you!” Medford Street at Ward Street is a busy area containing both residences and businesses. It is also a high traffic area. At the time of this incident, there were a dozen or so vehicles passing by at the time, slowing down and stopping to observe Mr. Agok as he screamed.

 

Once we had secured the items, I informed Mr. Agok that he was now under arrest for shoplifting and for disorderly conduct. Marked unit 200, Officer McNally, was dispatched to transport Mr. Agok back to the Somerville Police Department to be booked by the shift commander, Lieutenant Rymill.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Officer Ashley Catatao #299