Officer George West Arrested Again

[WaTcHeR]

09.07.2006 - MARLBOROUGH -- A former Hudson Police officer was arrested Monday, for the second time in four months, after he allegedly broke into his wife's home and attacked her.

Officer George West, 48, of Clinton, was charged with unarmed burglary with intent to commit a felony and assault and battery after police said he broke in through the bedroom window of his wife's Mechanic Street home at 3 a.m.

When she tried to push him out, West allegedly struck her in the head and tried to strangle her, police said. West is not accused of taking anything from the home; the burglary charge is applied to those breaking and entering with an intent to steal.

West, of 290 Berlin St., Apt. 2, still faces assault and weapon charges stemming from a previous alleged attack on his wife, Fatima West, in June. Fatima West had filed a restraining order against her husband in June, but vacated it in late August. George West was ordered held until a dangerousness hearing Friday.

A member of the Hudson Police Department from 1986 to 1998, West served as the town's DARE officer for several years. Hudson Police Chief Richard Braga said West caused no problems at the department. West retired eight years ago after deciding his religion would not approve of him carrying a gun or using deadly force, Braga said.

www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=139604

[WaTcHeR]

09.09.2006 - MARLBORO— A former Hudson police officer, arrested twice during the past three months for allegedly assaulting his wife, is too dangerous to be released on bail, a judge ruled yesterday.

After hearing testimony from his wife and the two 911 calls from the couple’s teenage daughter, Marlboro District Court Judge Sarah B. Singer ordered George West, 48, of 290 Berlin St., Apt. 2, Clinton, held without bail until the resolution of the two cases. The judge also extended a protective order for one year and revoked the $5,000 cash bail that was posted for Mr. West’s release after his first arrest on June 17.

In that case, he was charged with assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was arrested again Tuesday and charged with assault and battery and unarmed burglary. The next hearing on the two cases is set for Friday.

Mr. West was hired as a Hudson police officer in 1986 and served several years as the department’s DARE officer. He retired from the job in 1998, saying the use of deadly force and the carrying of a weapon conflicted with his religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.

Yesterday, he was brought into the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs. His wife of 17 years, Fatima, sat in the front row and the two often stared at each other.

Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Jennifer L. Snook played a recording of both 911 calls made by the couple’s 15-year-old daughter. On the June 17 tape, the teenager was crying and told police that her father was hitting her mother and that she thought he had a steak knife. In the mother’s affidavit for a protective order, she wrote that her husband pushed her to the bed and took her clothes off. He then grabbed her by the throat and held a knife toward her chest as he threatened to kill her and cut her up, she wrote. He also threatened to kill himself and, in the past has said he would kill their children, the woman told police.

“I told him that I had cheated on him, that’s the reason why (he) got so mad,” the woman wrote in the court documents.

But in court yesterday, when Mr. West’s lawyer, Mark Wester, asked whether she had told her husband that she had had an affair, Mrs. West replied that she had not. She said she had told her husband that she no longer loved him because of the way he had been treating her.

Mrs. West had the restraining order discontinued on Aug. 28, and she and her husband shopped for a new car for her. She said that on Sept. 1 she filed for a legal separation. On Labor Day, she and the couple’s daughter and 11-year-old son, who live at 355 Mechanic St., spent time with Mr. West at his Clinton apartment. About 3 a.m. the next day, she said, she was awakened by a scratching noise at her bedroom window. She said when she saw her husband trying to climb through the window, she screamed and woke up her children and mother. The daughter called 911 and told police that her father was hitting and strangling her mother.

Mrs. West testified yesterday that her husband was only able to get his upper body inside the window. She said his head was moving back and forth as he tried to get in and his head accidentally struck her neck and chin area. She said he left when she started to scream.

Mrs. West told the judge that she made a mistake by dropping the restraining order. She also told the judge that if her husband gets proper psychological help, he would not pose a threat to her or her family.

“If he was to get the proper help he will be fine. Jail would only hurt him,” she told the judge. “I believe he needs help and to stay away from me at this time.”

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