MANCHESTER, NH – When a police officer tried to speak with a man loitering at two businesses on South Willow Street, he become combative and grabbed a knife.
On August 11, 2016 police officers arrested Seth Brunelle, 24 of 178 Beech Hill Avenue, Manchester for simple assault and resisting detention, possession of a controlled drug (Methamphetamine), and possession of a prescription drug painkiller, (Gabapentin).
According to the Manchester Police Department, an officer responded to a call of a suspicious person at the Mobil on the Run, 1040 South Willow Street. The store manager told police an unknown man had been loitering around the store and gas pumps, so she contacted police to speak with him.
Before police arrived, Brunelle walked across the street toward Petco, located at 1049 South Willow Street. When the officer approached Brunelle, he grew agitated and refused to answer his questions as he sat on the stairs of the closed business. The officer observed a knife on the stairs in front of Brunelle and asked him to stand up. Brunelle refused to comply and grabbed the knife. They began to struggle as another officer arrived on the scene. The officers were unable to place him in handcuffs due to his combative behavior, so they used a department issued taser on Brunelle, to little effect. Brunelle continued to struggle while kicking the officers even though they deployed the taser multiple times. Brunelle was ultimately placed in handcuffs, but his combative behaviors continued throughout the booking process.
He was transported to Hillsborough County House of Corrections shortly after he arrived at police headquarters because he refused to comply with the booking process. He appeared in the 9th Circuit Court-Manchester on August 12, 2016.
