GREENFIELD — A Turners Falls man is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27 after a Franklin County Superior Court judge found him guilty of three charges related to a 2023 incident in which he beat a man nearly to death in Millers Falls.
Brendon Collette, 27, was found guilty of two counts of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. The verdict was rendered on Monday by Judge Jeremy Bucci, as Collette had waived his right to a jury trial.
Collette was ordered held without the right to bail until sentencing. Assault and battery causing serious bodily injury is a felony in Massachusetts that can be punished by up to five years in state prison. Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury is a felony carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in state prison.
According to a probable cause statement filed by Montague Police Detective Sgt. Joshua Hoffman, Collette and Xavier Chadwell went to a Mormon Hollow Road home on Dec. 26, 2023, with Jennica Chapin and two minors to buy marijuana and a psilocybin mushroom chocolate bar. A man who was with the victim told police that a black BMW pulled into the driveway and masked people got out, two of them with weapons (a steel pipe and a machete). They started attacking the victim.
The man who was with the victim reportedly told police he ran to the house to arm himself with a knife after the masked individuals ran toward them. The man said he went back outside with a box cutter and the vehicle fled, heading toward Wendell. According to Hoffman’s statement, the man said he told someone nearby to call 911.
The victim was taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield before being transferred to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he was sedated due to a traumatic brain injury. He also suffered serious facial injuries, including loss of teeth, multiple lacerations and a large hematoma under the right eye.
Sgt. Jacob Dlugosz, of the Montague Police Department, was on patrol in downtown Turners Falls when he stopped a vehicle occupied by people he later identified as Collette, Chadwell and the two juveniles, one of whom eventually admitted the four had been involved with the assault in Millers Falls.
One of the minors reportedly told Dlugosz that the victim and the other man had approached the vehicle armed with knives. He said Collette at one point grabbed the victim from behind and threw him to the ground. The juvenile also admitted to punching the victim while Collette was holding him down.
Collette told police he grabbed the victim because, even though he saw no weapon, he believed the man was going to stab one of the juveniles.
Those two juveniles were also arrested for their roles in the incident, but their names and information about their cases were impounded due to their age.
Montague Police Officer Christopher Smerz reportedly found a machete in a backpack one of the juveniles eventually admitted to owning. At least one black face mask was found in the BMW’s front compartment and a baseball bat was on the floor.
On Dec. 28, 2023, Chadwell agreed to be interviewed by police and said the altercation was self-defense. He also said he never tried to stop anyone from attacking the victim, and he admitted to chasing after the victim’s friend with the two juveniles.
Chadwell, 23, will go on trial April 21, though it has not yet been determined if it will be before jurors or a judge. Chapin, 27, waived her right to a jury trial. Her bench trial, presided over by a judge, is scheduled to begin April 13.
