Have you ever had the experience where someone you know of is said to have done something very surprising and seemingly out of character? Well, this past week, the police chief of Waltham, Thomas M. LaCroix, was arrested and charged with two counts of Middlesex County assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and was held without bail.
It just goes to show that none of us is immune to having bad things happen in our lives. But as a Norfolk County assault & battery lawyer, let me say upfront that the law makes it quite clear that all people charged with an alleged crime are innocent until proven guilty. This post doesn’t in any way say that police officers are bad people; in fact it says the exact opposite: These types of criminal charges can happen to anyone.
Chief LaCroix, the Police Chief of Waltham, is alleged to have first assaulted his wife Andrea, who afterward left their home in Maynard, and then returned with a friend. According to prosecutors, at that time, there was alleged to be yet another altercation in which Chief LaCroix allegedly struck the two women with a bicycle rack and also with a countertop. He is also alleged to have threatened to kill both people. Few details have been released about the alleged Maynard assault and battery. A dangerousness hearing is set for him this coming Tuesday, June 19, 2012 in Concord District Court.
Chief LaCroix’s arraignment was held in the intensive care unit of Emerson Hospital in Concord, as after the alleged incident, he suffered from chest and stomach pains and was hospitalized.
Stunned neighbors in Maynard described Chief LaCroix and his wife as the perfect neighbors. Neighbors might be stunned when something uncharacteristic like this happens. Unfortunately, criminal defense lawyers see far too much of it.
Chief LaCroix has been suspended with pay from his job and his badge and service weapon were relinquished to the Waltham police department.