Tuesday, July 10, 2012

We know where you are

Amherst Police assisted State Police making an arrest Friday morning after a cell phone "ping" (where the carrier sends out a signal to locate and track a particular cell phone) gave authorities a general idea where the perp was hiding in North Amherst after being involved in a domestic abuse situation Thursday night in Shutesbury.

According to APD logs:


While doing area search a passing motorist stated he just observed suspicious white male in back yard on Henry Street who fled to railroad tracks.  Jacobsen observed walking down tracks where he was taken into custody.  Turned over at the scene to Massachusetts State Police.

Phillip Jacobsen, 78 Pelham Hill Rd, Shutesbury, MA, age 24, Arrested for Assault to Murder, domestic A&B

Some of you may remember Mr. Jacobsen as he was a test case in a public documents fight two years ago between the Daily Hampshire Gazette (when they were a tad less arthritic) and Northampton Police Department.

The Gazette requested his mug shot after he was arrested for--you guessed it--beating and attempting to murder his former girlfriend. NPD denied the request claiming the photo was protected because of Criminal Offender Record Information.

State Supervisor of Public Records Alan Cote sided with the Gazette and the photo was released.  But the decision was appealed and another ruling simply left it up to individual police departments as to whether mug shots could be released.

In this morning's Gazette police log article,  no mug shot or previous background accompanies the brief of Mr. Jacobsen's most recent exploits.

Phillip Huckleberry Jacobsen

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So the crime is being seen in a backyard. Hmm, sounds like a long sentence will come from that.

Larry Kelley said...

No, the crime is attempted murder and assault and battery. And I know District Attorney Dave Sullivan takes those kinds of things very seriously .

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you should read your own blog post. According to your post he was arrested for being "suspicious." You also mention that the Gazette requested his photo two years ago. Nowhere do you say he was arrested on an outstanding warrant related to the charges you mentioned. Was he on the lam for the past two years? Was he previously sentenced? Did he serve time? If so, please make that clear.

Larry Kelley said...

Actually I quote from the police log that states he was arrested for "Assault to Murder, domestic assault and battery".

Not sure what happened the first time around two years ago but obviously he was not given a stiff sentence.

The current charges stemmed from an incident that happened Thursday night in Shutesbury and he apparently took refuge in North Amherst (but made the mistake of bringing his cell phone).

Police (APD and State) were actively looking for him Friday morning when a neighbor tipped them about the person acting suspiciously.