Homeless man charged with open and gross lewdness, robbery

Allegedly exposed himself, robbed woman.

FITCHBURG » A Fitchburg man, who is a level 3 sex offender, was in district court last week for a pretrial hearing on a charge of open and gross lewdness and unarmed robbery

related to an October incident on Water Street, according to police and court documents.

Police said that on Oct. 10 John Butler, 36, intentionally exposed himself to a woman on Water Street and afterward allegedly followed the woman to Third Street where he pushed her down and took $100 in cash from her.

When arraigned in December, a state prosecutor requested Butler, who pleaded not guilty, be held pending a dangerousness hearing, but he was determined to not be a threat to the public, according to court documents.

However, he was ordered held in lieu of posting a $5,000 cash bail or $50,000 surety bond and ordered to stay away from the victim, according to court documents.

Butler will return to court on Feb. 11 for a discovery compliance and jury election hearing, according to court documents.

He is currently being held at the Worcester House of Correction, according to a spokeswoman with the Worcester County Sheriff ’s Office.

According to the state’s Sexual Offender Registry Board, Butler was convicted in 2018 of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14.

Fitchburg man arrested in Leominster for domestic abuse, drug possession

LEOMINSTER » A Fitchburg man was arrested Jan. 14 after his girlfriend reported he had become angry with her and choked her during a dispute at a city motel, according to police and court documents.

An officer was parked at the Shell gas station on Commercial Drive when a person ran up his cruiser and told the officer there was a domestic situation happening in the parking lot of the Motel 6 and a “girl is yelling for help.”

Only a few hundred feet away, the officer quickly arrived at the parking lot and saw a woman running toward a motor vehicle and after getting inside began crying hysterically, the officer reported.

When he asked the 39-yearold woman what was going on, she told the officer, “I just want to leave. I don’t want anyone to get arrested.”

And then she repeatedly told the officer: “He just kept choking me.”

While the officer was speaking to the woman, Joseph M. Benjamin, 30, of Marshall Road, began yelling from a secondfloor balcony that the woman had his money and he didn’t choke her, the officer reported.

The officer went to the second-floor room and when Benjamin opened the door he took him into custody, the officer reported.

The officer then searched Benjamin and found $640 in cash and a plastic baggie with a small amount of what appeared to be cocaine, the officer reported.

Benjamin was then taken to the police department for booking, where he was found carrying 11.2 grams of heroin/fentanyl, the officer reported.

The officer then spoke again to the victim, who said she had gone to a fast food restaurant to pick up some food and when she got back to the parking lot she fell asleep in the car.

At some point she was awakened by Benjamin, who was yelling at her about stealing his money and then he began choking her while she was still sitting in the car, the victim told the officer.

Because of the commotion, motel guests were coming outside and the victim and Benjamin went inside the room and he continued to yell at her about the money and he attacked her again, grabbing her by the neck and throwing her into a door entrance, she told the officer.

After the second incident inside the room, she got out and ran to her car at the moment the officer arrived at the reported disturbance, she told the officer, who reported the woman had injuries to her neck consistent with her version of what happened.

As a result of the incident Benjamin was charged with domestic assault and battery, strangulation or suffocation, and possession of a Class B controlled substance, according to court documents.

However, while the police report indicates Benjamin would be charged in connection with the discovery of the heroin/fentanyl and that probable cause had been found by a magistrate to charge him with possession to distribute a Class A controlled substance, it was not included in the formal charging documents.

When arraigned last week, Benjamin, who pleaded not guilty, was ordered held in lieu of a $5,000 cash bail or $50,000 surety bond and ordered to return to court Feb. 2 for a compliance discovery and jury election hearing, according to court documents.

He is currently being held at the Worcester House of Correction, according to a spokeswoman with the Worcester County Sheriff ’s Office.

Fitchburg State student charged with vandalism for allegedly damaging several cars

FITCHBURG » A 20-year-old student was charged last week with vandalism after punching or kicking eight cars on Willow Avenue behind Simonds Hall, leaving four with damaged sideview mirrors, according to police and court documents.

Brendan J. Nally, of Cislak Drive, Ludlow, was identified using surveillance video recordings of the area behind Simonds Hall, police said.

When FSU Police spoke with Nally about the damage to the vehicles, he told them he was intoxicated and upset over personal issues in his life, police said.

Nally will be arraigned on four charges of vandalism as a result of the incident on March 8, according to court documents.