PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police arrested two juveniles for breaking and entering Tuesday.

 

Police said the department received a call for a breaking and entering in progress on Linn Street. Witnesses said two suspects had fled the scene prior to officer's arrival. They were described as two black men, wearing hooded sweatshirts, jeans and carrying backpacks.

 

Shortly after officers located them in the area of Saint Joseph Cemetery on Peck's Road. The two matched the physical and clothing descriptions reported by witnesses.

 

Police said a K9 unit was able to locate several pieces of evidence. This incident is currently under investigation by Officer Kipp Steinman of the Pittsfield Police Uniformed Patrol Division, the Pittsfield Police Detective Bureau and Crime Scene Services. 

 

Anyone who has any information regarding this incident is requested to contact Officer Kipp Steinman of the Pittsfield Police Department at 413-448-9700 extension 601. Information can also be provided anonymously via the Detective Bureau, the Drug Tips hotline at 413-448-9708, or by texting "PITTIP" plus your message to TIP411 (847411).

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Authorities relocated a deer that was trapped downtown.

 

Police received a call of a deer trapped in fencing at First and Fenn Street. The deer then fled to the Brien Center near First and Third Street, where it tucked itself in an alcove behind an air conditioning unit.

 

"We received a call for a deer stuck in fenced-in areas in the downtown. Patrol officers did their best to free it from those fenced in areas but given the congestion and the urban downtown environment, the deer has no way to get back," Police Capt. Matthew Kirchner said.

 

MassWildlife tranquilized the deer and the Massachusetts Environmental Police transported it out of the city's downtown core. The deer is expected to survive.

 

"We were able to safely and humanely dart the animal and relocate it back to the wild safely," Kirchner said. "They'll spend time with her, monitor her, until she is on her own."

 

The deer wouldn't have been much of a concern in other areas of the city but because of the heavily congested location officers had public safety concerns. 

 

"It is a public safety hazard. If it runs out to the street there are car accidents with people trying to avoid it," Kirchner said.

 

MassWildlife rallied the resources needed, including the tranquilizer and nets to keep it from running away after being darted, the Police Department had patrol officers pick up bags of ice to keep the deer cool while being transported. By the time the deer had gotten to that particular location, it had received some minor scrapes and bleeding but Kirchner said there weren't any significant injuries.

 

"We rely heavily on our partners with MassWildlife and Environmental Police and our animal control officers because they are the experts in this field. We lean on them in the direction and best resources available," Kirchner said.

 

A deer rescue from downtown is fairly unique -- and generates plenty of calls to dispatch -- but wildlife rescues are fairly common. More frequently bears find their way into residential areas but the process is the same for deer.

 

"They'll happen periodically throughout the year," Kirchner said.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The director of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is being charged in the fatal accident last year that killed an Adams man. 

 

According to reports in The Berkshire Eagle on Thursday, Joseph Thompson is scheduled to be arraigned on June 19 on a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation in Northern Berkshire District Court. 

 

A 2001 Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by Steven Fortier, 49, of Adams collided with Thompson's 2015 Audi on Church Street near the intersection with Ashland. Fortier was heading south and Thompson north the evening of July 20, 2018. 

 

A show-cause hearing was held on May 9. Police Chief Jason Wood told The Eagle that the department had waited on the state police reconstruction report before determining whether to move forward with charges. 

 

Thompson's attorney, Timothy Shugrue, says his client is not guilty of the misdemeanor, noting to The Eagle that it had been confirmed by police that Thompson had not had alcohol or was in use of his phone. 

 

"I'm very confident that he's innocent and I'm very confident it's going to be found that way," he told The Eagle.

 

Fortier had been at the Mohawk Tavern the night of the accident and his condition, according to witnesses, along with several unrelated incidents regarding overserving, led to the bar's hours being reduced for several months last fall.  

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Fire Department and hazardous materials team are investigating a medical incident at Spectrum Health Systems.

 

Police Sgt. Albert Zoito said a report had been received around 11 on Thursday morning that one of the Spectrum employees had fallen ill after coming in contact with "something that someone brought in."

 

"A nurse that worked here was subjected to something that someone brought in and she is now feeling ill," he said. "She came in contact with something that was making her feel ill, apparently, and reported that came in from somebody." 

 

Fire Chief Stephen Meranti said the woman received medical attention, the facility has been evacuated and the HAZMAT Technical Operations Module was called. The facility is an opioid treatment center that offers a range of services including methadone.

 

"We have evacuated the building … and we have hazmat here looking into the situation," he said. "There is no one else in the building, there are not other symptoms, and it seems to be an isolated  incident."

 

Meranti said hazmat was surveying the building to rule out that any conditions within the building caused the illness such as a carbon monoxide leak or an oxygen deficiency. 

 

He added that it could also be an individual medical condition separate from any issue within the building and although they were leaning toward this scenario, they will not know for sure until hazmat have finished their sweep and they have heard back from the emergency room.

 

Update at 5 p.m.: "Really nothing has changed," Meranti said. "They cleared the building and at this point, the police are still following up on it and questioning the patient but it appears to be a medical condition."

ADAMS, Mass. — Police are investigating an incident early Thursday morning that left three injured with knife wounds. 

 

"The investigation is fluid and ongoing," Police Chief Richard Tarsa Jr. wrote in a press release late Thursday morning. "This is an isolated in targeted incident ... at no time was the public in any danger."

 

Just after 1 a.m. Thursday, police responded to Commercial Street near Cumberland Farms to find a person who had been stabbed.

 

Police and emergency services searched the area and officers found two more individuals on lower Linden Street suffering from knife wounds.

 

All three victims were transported to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, where they were being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

 

The identities of those involved are known but have not yet been released. 

 

Tarsa wrote that the investigation is being conducted by the Adams Police and the state police detective unit assigned through the district attorney's office.