Saturday, September 29
PITTSFIELD — A 20-year-old man whom officers disarmed in June after he threatened to shoot himself in front of the Dalton Police Station received an 18-month jail sentence after he was convicted of five criminal charges.
Following a jury trial in District Court on Thursday, Daniel Dewey of High Street was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, illegal possession of a firearm and being a person under the age of 21 in possession of liquor.

Dewey faced a maximum sentence of eight years in jail.

District Court Judge Paul M. Vrabel ordered Dewey to serve concurrent 18 month sentences on the assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges. He received a concurrent six-month sentence for disorderly conduct. The minor in possession of alcohol charge is punishable by a fine.

Dewey was arrested on June 27 following an early morning incident that took place in front of the Dalton Police Station on Carson Avenue.

According to police, Dewey rang the police station's call box at 5 a.m. When Officer Geoff Powell opened the door, Dewey told him he needed to speak with him about something.

The two men stepped outside so that Dewey could smoke. Less than a minute after telling Powell he was having an issue with the state, Dewey pulled a handgun from his right side and turned the weapon on himself.
Powell and Dewey then struggled for control of the gun, which was eventually pointed away from the defendant and positioned in such a way that Dewey could not be harmed.

"I told him we could not talk while he had a gun," Powell later said in a statement. "I told him to drop the gun several times. I could only feel him continuing to tense up as each second passed."

With his free hand, Powell alerted his midnight shift partner, Officer Deanna Strout, who was further down Carson Avenue. When Strout arrived on the scene, she drew her own firearm and asked Dewey to drop the weapon. After several requests, Dewey dropped the gun, and Powell pushed it away.

The two officers then struggled with Dewey when he resisted being handcuffed.

Dewey was found to be carrying a .44 caliber Connecticut Valley Arms model Colt 1860 Army percussion firearm, which had earlier been identfied as a 19th century black powder revolver.

A firearms license is not required to purchase a black powder firearm, but a Firearms Identification Card is neeed to carry such a weapon outside of a business or residence.

Before the case went to the jury, Vrabel denied a motion for a required finding of not guilty that was filed by Dewey's attorney, John A. Bernardo. The motion asked the court to determine whether the commonwealth had introduced sufficient evidence for a jury to convict Dewey of the criminal charges.

For their actions, Powell and Strout received the 2007 President's Award at the Massachusetts Coalition of Police convention in Hyannis.