Police: Man With Loaded Gun, Smelling Of Alcohol Assaulted Trick-Or-Treater
WALPOLE (CBS) -- A Walpole man is facing charges for allegedly assaulting a 6-year-old trick-or-treater while carrying a loaded gun.
Walpole police said they responded to an incident Halloween night at about 6:30 p.m. on David Circle. A woman told officers her son had returned crying and screaming back from one house. When interviewed by police, the child reported a man "pushed him, knocked off his hat, pulled his hair and pinched him" while also calling him a spoiled brat.
The boy's father told police he went to speak with the "extremely hostile" man, who threatened to beat him up.
Officers interviewed 75-year-old Richard Lawlor, who they said "seemed very agitated and angry."
"Richard stated that the child attempted to get inside of his house because the child did not like the candy he received and that his response was to push him away from his door," police recounted.
They said they told Lawlor that the boy was only 6, but he still didn't seem to think putting his hands on the child was wrong.
Police then removed a .380 caliber firearm loaded with six bullets from Lawlor's belt. They said they could smell alcohol on Lawlor's breath, and he told officers he had two glasses of wine in the afternoon.
"There's no excuse for that. I think that the man, he probably got caught up in the moment a little bit, I think he overreacted," said Police Chief John Carmichael.
Lawlor was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace and assault and battery. Police also served him a "License to Carry Firearms Suspension."
If that was not enough, Lawlor's wife, Patricia, was also arrested for allegedly drunk driving. A neighbor told WBZ-TV that she almost hit a house.
