Latest news with #EssexCountySheriff'sDepartment
Boston Globe
05-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Four males arrested for allegedly robbing jewelry store in North Andover, leading police on chase into Lawrence
Officers chased the vehicle along Route 125 and onto Sutton Street, where it merged onto Route 495, North Andover police said. Advertisement The suspects were driving a Honda CRV, Lawrence police said in a statement. Officers pursued the vehicle into Lawrence where it crashed near Marston Street. The suspects ran into nearby residential neighborhoods and wooded areas, Lawrence police said. Other departments, including the State Police, Methuen police, the Essex County Sheriff's Department and the FBI responded to the scene and set up a containment perimeter, Lawrence police said. They began a search of the area that included drones, K9 units and a State Police air wing. One of the suspects was arrested after a brief foot chase, Lawrence police said. A Lawrence officer, who was working a detail, saw the other three suspects hiding in a crawl space beneath the double-decker bridge, Lawrence police said. They were wedged between the foundation and a support beam. Advertisement All three were ordered to surrender one by one and were taken into custody without further incident, Lawrence police said. Adam Sennott can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Off-duty police officer wounded during confrontation when North Andover police were serving restraining order, officials say
An officer discharged his weapon once and Fitzsimmons was shot in the chest and medflighted to a Boston hospital, Tucker said. She is in stable condition Tuesday, he said. Advertisement He said State Police detectives are still piecing together what transpired in the Cape-style home, conducting interviews with the officer involved in the incident. He declined to say who had requested the restraining order, and would also not say whether anyone was in the house with Fitzsimmons at the time. Fitzsimmons, who joined the department on May 6, 2024, had previously worked for the Essex County Sheriff's Department and was a 2020 graduate of Fisher College, according to town records and Fitzsimmons' social media postings. Fitzsimmons gave birth to a baby boy on Feb. 17 with her fiancée, a North Andover Firefighter, according to her Facebook page and an Eagle Tribune story from March. North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray said Fitzsimmons was on administrative leave from the department, but citing limitations on discussing personnel matters, declined to explain why. Advertisement According to Lawrence District Court records, Fitzsimmons in May asked a judge to overturn Gray's decision stripping her of her license to carry firearms. Gray said it was a personnel manner and he could not discuss it. Fitzsimmons withdrew her request last Friday, records show. This is a developing story will be updated. John R. Ellement can be reached at
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Incarcerated men sue Mass. sheriff for denying hepatitis C treatment
A federal class action lawsuit filed this week claims a controversial medical services contractor for Essex County jails — and by extension Sheriff Kevin Coppinger — refuses to provide hepatitis C treatment to incarcerated individuals. Filed by Prisoners' Legal Services on behalf of two men currently incarcerated at the Middleton House of Correction, the lawsuit says 'nearly everyone' at the county's jail facilities are denied direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) as part of practices by Wellpath, a privately-contracted health care provider. DAAs, the revolutionary medications that were first developed in 2011, are considered the standard gold-star treatment for hepatitis C today, proven to cure the bloodborne viral infection more than 90% of the time. If left untreated, hepatitis C can cause liver failure, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes and heart problems. If it becomes chronic, it can ultimately lead to death. Massachusetts has made the elimination of hepatitis C a public health priority. Read more: HIV advocates in Mass. push for state funding as President Trump slashes federal dollars Wellpath isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but is cited throughout the complaint. Prisoners' Legal Services Attorney Rachel Talamo explained Coppinger has the legal responsibility as sheriff to provide necessary medical care to people in his custody, and contracting decisions out to a private company doesn't change that obligation. Wellpath was previously the health care services provider for Massachusetts' 10 state-run prisons, but last year, the state pursued a contract with a different entity after Wellpath faced national scrutiny for long wait times and service denials. In 2023, Wellpath found itself at the center of an investigation by The Appeal, a website that covers criminal justice reform issues. It revealed that incarcerated people in Massachusetts' prison system 'had to wait years' for Wellpath to provide them with dentures or other basic dental care. Read more: Mass. inks new deal for prison health care, dumping troubled former provider Despite the state's severance of its partnership with Wellpath, the Essex County Sheriff's Department still contracts with the Nashville-based for-profit company to provide medical services at its three carceral facilities. 'Through its policies and practices, the Sheriff's Department routinely withholds a universally recommended treatment for a disease that is disproportionately both prevalent and deadly in incarcerated populations, letting the disease inflict grave harm on infected people in Essex jails,' reads the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts on April 23. In a statement Thursday, the Essex County Sheriff's Department reacted to the lawsuit, saying it 'grossly misrepresents the Essex County Sheriff's Department's commitment to the health and wellbeing of individuals in our custody.' 'Sheriff Kevin Coppinger takes seriously the responsibility to provide both appropriate and the highest-quality medical care, including treatment for Hepatitis C,' the statement said. 'All medical treatment protocols are determined by professionals with our contracted medical provider WellPath. We reject the premise that medical neglect is occurring, and we will vigorously defend the Department's practices and reputation against these accusations in court.' Data cited in the suit shows that, from January 2021 to January 2025, the number of people with hepatitis C in custody of the Essex County Sheriff's Department at a given time ranged between 60 and 130 cases. Those numbers are believed to be an undercount because the department 'tests only a small percentage of the people entering its custody for hepatitis C.' The suit says fewer than 10 people start hepatitis C treatment in sheriff's department custody each year, based on selective decision-making by Wellpath and an overall disregard by the provider for recommended treatment of the infection. In addition, it claims that Wellpath touts 'self care' and 'diet and lifestyle modifications' for hepatitis C, instead of DAAs. Wellpath did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorney Talamo said the policies force people to endure progressive risk of permanent liver damage during their incarceration. 'This is not only inhumane and illegal, but also fueling a public health crisis,' she said. The plaintiffs, both men in their 30s, claim they've unsuccessfully sought hepatitis C treatment at the Middleton House of Correction for more than a year. One has developed advanced liver fibrosis. In a statement, plaintiff Adam Cochrane said, 'I want everyone to get treatment for Hep C and get healthy and be okay. I want people to have a chance to have a better life.' The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring timely treatment for all people with hepatitis C in Essex County jails, as well as routine testing upon admission and connection to community care upon release. The court action against Coppinger comes seven years after Prisoners' Legal Services secured a settlement requiring the Massachusetts Department of Correction to provide DAA treatment to people with hepatitis C incarcerated in state prisons. Friends, family needed for paid New England resort commercial After Boston Red Sox' early trade for prospect, they see 'bunch of tools' Springfield man who police say threatened to shoot people at bank pleads not guilty Springfield man arrested twice in 6 hours accused of aiming gun at police 2025 All Western Mass. 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