EGREMONT, Mass. — Southern Berkshire Regional School District officials are warning parents of an attempted abduction Wednesday afternoon.

 

Superintendent Beth Regulbuto sent a message to school families saying four men attempted to grab a young woman on Creamery Road. According to the superintendent, the woman was able to free herself from four men in a cream-colored Jeep Wrangler with New York plates.

 

"She ran home and called the police, but the vehicle was already gone and was not able to be located," reads a memo released by Regulbuto.

 

The district will be making an extra effort to speak to students and reminding them how to stay safe around strangers. 

 

"With the addition of our SRO, we are planning to continue to teach safety as part of our standard curriculum, and the message of stranger danger will be reinforced. We want children to be safe, but not scared," Regulbuto wrote.

 

"In partnership with us, we ask that our parents/guardians talk with their child, in whatever manner you feel is appropriate, to warn them of the danger of going with strangers. I have informed the bus company as we have students with stops in that area, and all drivers have been alerted."

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Six people, including three juveniles, were arrested during two concurrent raids by local authorities Wednesday morning.

 

City police, the Berkshire County Drug Task Force, and the Berkshire County Special Response Team executed search warrants at 362 Columbus Avenue and 208 Linden Street at 10:20 a.m.

 

The raids led to six arrests and authorities seized upward of $50,000 worth of drugs, two firearms, and $8,700 in cash.

 

Police say Shiana Sayers, 30, was arrested for trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in heroin, and two counts of conspiracy to violate drug laws.

 

Melissa Daniels, 32, was arrested on charges of trafficking in heroin and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

 

Jacob Ferry, 23, was arrested and charged with trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in heroin, possessing a firearm without an FID card, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, improper storage of a firearm, and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

 

Three other minors were not named. Two will be charged with trafficking in heroin and conspiracy to violate drug laws and the other will be charged with trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to violate drug laws, possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, and illegal possession of a firearm.

 

Police say during the searches large amounts of individual bags of heroin, loose powder heroin, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and cocaine paraphernalia, two loaded firearms, and $8,700 in cash were found. Police estimate the street value of the drugs found range from $34,000 to $50,000.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Holiday Inn had to be evacuated around midnight on Monday after a fire in the boiler room sent smoke through the basement and into the first floor. 

 

The report of smoke in the building was reported shortly before midnight, right after firefighters finished responding to an alarm that went off at 85 Main St. (A number of automatic alarms have been triggered by the annual hydrant flushing over the past week or so.)

 

Fire Director Stephen Meranti said firefighters searched through the basement area and found the fire in a type of plastic trash container in the boiler room. 

 

"There was a lot of smoke in the basement, not much heat, but because we had so many people in the building we made an all-call," he said. Two shifts were dealing with smoke at the hotel while a third shift was covering the station, right across the street. 

 

Firefighters were able to snuff the blaze pretty quickly and were using fans to drive out the smoke. 

 

"The basement had the heaviest smoke, there was some light smoke on the first floor," Meranti said. "The upper floors appear to be OK, the stairwells are closed ... The stairwell doors automatically close so the smoke didn't get up to that point."

 

One guest said he'd come down from the fifth floor and could smell the smoke. It smelled like burning trash or plastic, he said. 

 

Firefighters accessed the basement from an exterior stairwell on the west side, near the Hadley Overpass, and worked their way through the pool area to the boiler room. 

 

"It was on fire when they opened the door. ... there was a lot of smoke coming through," Meranti said, adding a sprinkler head in the boiler room did go off, but not until firefighters were already in the room. 

 

The cause had not yet been determined early Tuesday morning. Meranti said they were focused on clearing the smoke and testing for carbon dioxide before letting guests back into the building. The health and building inspectors were also called to the scene. 

 

However, the area where the fire started was not open to the public, he said. "It was a secured area."

 

It was not clear how many guests were staying in the 90-room hotel but close to three dozen appeared to be outside. The former Sleepy's mattress store was opened for guests to wait but many were standing in the street. It was a mild night with temperatures in the high 50s. 

 

North Adams Ambulance Service had an ambulance at the scene and was overseeing access to the store. American Legion Drive was closed between Main and Summer streets to keep it clear for fire trucks.

 

"It was a quick knockdown, the guys did a good job knocking it down quick and it didn't spread to any other areas," Meranti said. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — An Adams man was killed Sunday night when the vehicle he was driving crossed the center line and collided with another car. 

 

The 77-year-old man, whose name is being withheld at this time, was southbound in a 2005 Nissan sedan when he failed to make the wide turn at Hodges Cross Road and veered into the northbound lane of South Church Street, according to Police Lt. Jason Wood. 

 

The Nissan crashed head-on into a 2008 Hyundai sport-utility vehicle headed north on South Church Street near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink. 

 

The driver was extricated from his car and taken to Berkshire Medical Center's North Adams campus, said Wood. The passenger in his vehicle and the two occupants of the Hyundai were taken to BMC in Pittsfield with serious injuries, including possible broken bones. 

 

The crash occurred at about 9:01 p.m. and the road was closed in that section until 2 a.m. on Monday. Both vehicles were towed by Dean's Quality Auto.

 

Wood said the state police accident reconstruction team was called to the scene and he was awaiting the report. However, he said there did not appear to be any negligence or any indication that speed, alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash. Police are leaning toward a medical incident as the cause, he said. 

 

The driver's name is expected to be released later Monday after police ensure that proper notification is complete. 

Cases heard before Judge Maureen Hogan on Wednesday, May 9.

 

Lawrence Murray, 34, of Pittsfield pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to file a report of child abuse as a mandated reporter and a single count of misleading a police officer or other person.

 

The case was continued without a finding for one year. The incidents occurred while Murray was employed by Eagleton School between November 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.