Police subdue naked man after baby-choking

FITCHBURG — After a violent police struggle, a man who allegedly choked a 9-month-old baby has been arrested.

Dean J. Jones, 40, joined a female acquaintance and her young son for a birthday party. It was not long before Mr. Jones grabbed her son and ran to her waiting minivan. A friend of the woman’s got into the car with Mr. Jones and asked him to give her the baby.

“This is when Dean began to act crazy again saying that she and (the mother) was the devil and that they were going to die,” the witness told police.

The boy’s mother told Mr. Jones to give her the child, whereupon, she said, the man said her son was the devil, put his hands around the child’s neck and squeezed. She tried to grab her son but Mr. Jones punched her in the head, according to police reports.

Police were called, and they found signs of struggle at the scene, though Jones was gone. Minutes later, however, police received a call about a naked man walking a few blocks over.

Officer Steven Hachey was the first on the scene and approached the naked pedestrian, later identified as Mr. Jones. He opened the passenger side window of his cruiser to speak with Mr. Jones, who allegedly grabbed the glass and shattered it before trying to enter the vehicle.

Officer Hachey backed up his cruiser and was chased by Mr. Jones, who pounded on the vehicle’s hood, Capt. Kearns said.

The officer eventually got out of his cruiser and Mr. Jones climbed in, but was unable to move it because Officer Hachey had removed the keys, Capt. Kearns said.

Police fired several pepper balls at Mr. Jones, striking him in the chest. The impact had no effect on him, police said. Mr. Jones was subdued by baton strikes and his legs were taped to contain his flailing limbs, according to police reports.

Mr. Jones referred to himself as Jesus Christ during the confrontation, police reports indicate.

Capt. Kearns said the child did not appear to have suffered any serious injuries.

He commended the work of the officers who responded to the incident.

“This guy was clearly out of control,” he said. “A lot of things could have gone wrong with that. Instead, he was taken into custody without a lot of associated injuries.”

Mr. Jones was arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a child causing injury, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property over $250, resisting arrest and assault and battery.

He was ordered to return to court March 12 for a pretrial hearing.