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NEWBURYPORT — Henry Taft, a former Atkinson Road resident charged with threatening a household with a knife whereas in a Gloucester park, was transferred to Bridgewater State Hospital just lately for a psychological well being analysis, in response to Newburyport District Court docket officers.
Taft was due in courtroom Wednesday for a probation violation listening to primarily based on his arrest in Gloucester. As a substitute, the listening to was postponed till Nov. 17, by which period he’ll seemingly be again on the Middleton Jail, in response to his lawyer, John Bjorlie.
Taft, 58, was on probation on the time of his arrest at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester on Sept. 3, in response to courtroom data.
Following his arrest in Beverly, Taft was charged with assault with a harmful weapon, threatening to commit a criminal offense and disorderly conduct. His arrest prompted Newburyport District Court docket’s probation division to ask Gloucester police to carry him till he could possibly be introduced earlier than a Newburyport choose.
On Jan. 1, 2021, Taft barricaded himself in his Atkinson Road residence, prompting a SWAT crew to encompass the house and shut off close by streets.
Greater than a dozen closely armed law enforcement officials and not less than two armored automobiles surrounded Taft’s residence after he refused orders by police to come back out. After SWAT members converged on the house, a negotiator was capable of persuade Taft to come back out about 75 minutes later.
After Taft surrendered to the SWAT crew, native law enforcement officials swept the residence. They discovered a knife and not using a blade and a butane torch that resembled a handgun, in response to a police report.
In December, Taft pleaded responsible to misdemeanor breaking and coming into, larceny from a constructing, vandalism, three counts of resisting arrest, assault with a harmful weapon, and assault and battery. He was sentenced to a 12 months and a half behind bars.
He was launched from jail in February after serving about half of the 18-month sentence. Court docket data present Taft is homeless.
However as a result of Taft had remained in custody since his early January 2021 arrest, he was given credit score for 331 days served. He was additionally sentenced to 3 years of probation and ordered to remain out of Newburyport.
A number of folks known as 911 about 3 p.m. on Sept. 3 to say a person was threatening others with a knife, in response to a Gloucester police report.
When Officer Anthony Trupiano arrived, he noticed a person matching the outline given by the callers as he walked away from Officer Michael Scola and was sitting on a park bench.
“I might hear a lady hysterically crying roughly 100 yards away and waving her arms,” Trupiano wrote in his report.
Taft tried to stroll away from the bench however was stopped by officers who then frisked him.
“He acknowledged he didn’t have a knife and no knife was discovered on his individual,” Trupiano wrote in his report.
The crying lady informed police that as she and her household walked previous Taft, who was sitting on a bench, he started screaming at them. They tried to disregard him and stroll away however he obtained up and approached them.
“Their son was frightened and began to cry in worry of him,” Trupiano wrote in his report. “(The mom) acknowledged her son started to run away again within the path that they’d come alongside the boulevard. She acknowledged Taft started to chase her and her son down the boulevard, (the daddy) instantly ran after Taft to guard his household.”
As the daddy caught up with him, Taft pulled out a knife and raised it above his shoulder. Taft then screamed that he was going to kill them.
“I’m going to chop you proper now and throw you over the railing,” Taft mentioned, in response to Trupiano’s report.
Dave Rogers is the editor of the Every day Information of Newburyport. Electronic mail him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Comply with him on Twitter @drogers41008.
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