Traffic STOP ENDS WITH MAN FACING 16 CHARGES
WOONSOCKET — Police hung a laundry load of criminal and non-criminal charges – 16 in all – on a Manville man after a violent struggle that grew out of a motor vehicle stop on Manville Road Wednesday morning.
Nathan L. Filion, 26, of 74 Old Orchard Road, is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs; threatening public officials (two counts); simple assault and battery (two counts); obstructing an officer in execution of duty; resisting arrest; and disorderly conduct – all criminal charges.
He was also cited for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana; refusal to submit to a chemical test; speeding more than 11 mph over the limit; driving too fast for conditions; exceeding reasonable and prudent speeds; failure to activate an interior light during a motor vehicle stop; refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test; and operating without proof of insurance.
The episode began shortly after 1 a.m., when Patrolman Patrick McGourty clocked a Toyota hatchback doing 62 mph in a 35 mph zone heading toward Lincoln on Manville Road. After McGourty pulled the vehicle over near Bertenshaw Road, he approached Filion and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot, his speech slurred, and the smell of marijuana was wafting from his vehicle.
Had he been drinking or using drugs? McGourty wanted to know.
“A little,” Filion replied. While Filion’s demeanor had initially been polite and apologetic, police said the driver became markedly confrontational as soon as they asked him to exit the vehicle for a field sobriety test. Filion allegedly refused to get out and grabbed onto the steering wheel with both arms. With his door locked, he allegedly ignored repeated commands to exit the vehicle.
McGourty and Officer Mathew Burgoine, who arrived to assist, managed to unlock the door and forcibly remove Filion from the vehicle. They told him he was under arrest and tried to put him in handcuffs, but Filion allegedly began struggling violently and threatening the officers.
The officers said they kicked and punched Filion repeatedly in attempts to gain control of him – but he seemed oblivious to the blows. The officers tackled him to the ground, but he continued struggling and, at one point, threatened to kill the officers. A few neighbors in the quiet stretch of Manville Road came out to see what all the commotion was about.
McGourty said Filion grabbed his bicep during the struggle with enough force to break the skin, and he repeatedly kicked at him and Burgoine during the melee.
“While fighting with Filion it was evident the physical strikes were having little to no effect,” McGourty’s police report says. “Even while handcuffed, Filion continued his violent assaults, as he kicked at officers.”
After taking him into custody, police found what were described as “two large jars” of marijuana in the vehicle.
Filion was eventually secured and transported to Landmark Medical Center to be treated for contusions about his face and body. At the hospital, he refused his right to make a phone call and declined to provide police with a sample of his blood for chemical analysis.
After being medically cleared for discharge, he was transported to police headquarters for booking.
After an initial appearance in Sixth District Court later that day, he was released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail pending another hearing on Dec. 13, according to the judiciary’s website.