On Saturday March 5th, 2016, I, Officer Devin Schneider, was in full uniform assigned to marked unit East-1 during the evening shift. The following report is a summary of the events that I witnessed that day, as they pertain to incident #16012576:

 

At approximately 6:03 PM, I was dispatched to the Somerville City Club at 20 Inner Belt Road for a report of 10 people fighting, and a knife being shown. Officer Patrick Canty, assigned to unit East-4, arrived on scene first, and reported seeing a silver Hyundai leaving the parking lot of the City Club at a high rate of speed. I arrived on scene a short time later, along with Officer Robert Pasqualino (East-3), Detective Michael Perrone (D-6), and Sergeant Diogo DeOliviera (S-8).

 

I learned that Detective Nando Cicerone (D-18), along with Detective Jason Costa (D-22) had approached a 2014 Silver Hyundai Elantra which was stopped opposite the dog park located at 1 New Washington Street. I would note that New Washington Street intersects with Inner Belt Road, and the area where the Elantra was stopped is within 500 feet of the City Club. Detective Cicerone stated he approached the vehicle because he saw it leaving the City Club at a high rate of speed, stop opposite the dog park, and then he observed what he thought was a passenger jumping into the vehicle. Officer Canty and Officer Chris Fusco (East-2) joined Detective Cicerone opposite of 1 New Washington Street. I was informed that there were three males and a female in the vehicle that was stopped on New Washington Street. The occupants of the vehicle were identified as XXXXX in the driver’s seat, YYYYY in the passenger’s seat, ZZZZZ in the passenger-side rear seat, and Mario Farah in the drivers-side rear seat.

 

On scene at the City Club, I first spoke with AAAAA. AAAAA stated to me that he had been attending a baby shower at the city club, when he had gotten into an argument and was “jumped” by three males in the parking lot. I observed that AAAAA had several abrasions on his arm, and was bleeding slightly. AAAAA refused medical attention.

 

I spoke with the reporting person, BBBBB. BBBBB stated that a fight had initiated in the parking lot and she had run inside to call the police, while her boyfriend, CCCCC, had gone to break up the fight.

 

I spoke with CCCCC, who stated he was in the process of leaving when he witnessed the fight break out. He handed his belongings to BBBBB, and went over to the fray with the intentions of breaking up the fight. When he approached the fight, a Hispanic male pulled out a folding knife approximately two to three inches, opened it and brandished it at CCCCC. CCCCC demonstrated the brandishing of the knife by holding his closed hand down by his right leg. The suspect with the knife then stated to CCCCC: “What are you going to do about it?” The three males who initiated the fight then jumped into a silver sedan and fled the area just prior to police arriving on scene.

 

I asked CCCCC if he could identify the male who had pulled the knife in him and he stated he was confident he could. I prepared a show-up form and reviewed it with CCCCC. I drove with CCCCC sitting in the back of my police cruiser to the location of the where the four suspects were stopped opposite of the dog park. The male suspects were standing next to each other on the side of the street, in an area well lit by a street lamp. I asked CCCCC if he could identify the male who had brandished a knife at him, and he replied: “The Hispanic male on the far right. The one wearing the white shirt with New York on it.”

 

I learned from Officer Canty that a knife had been discovered in possession of Mr. Farah. The knife had been discovered when Detective Cicerone asked the occupants of the vehicle if they had any weapons, and Mr. Farah stated he had a knife. The knife was located by Officer Fusco on the seat next to where Mr. Farah had been sitting, in the rear left of the vehicle.

 

I informed Officer Canty of CCCCC’s identification, and directed him to place Mr. Farah under arrest for Assault With a Dangerous Weapon. Officer Canty affected the arrest of Mr. Farah and he was transported back to the police station in prisoner transport unit 200, operated by Officer Edward Soares. At the police station, Mr. Farah was booked in the usual manner by the commanding officer, Lt. Jeffrey Digregorio.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Officer Devin Schneider

Badge #295