GREENFIELD — Sebret Sanchez, who allegedly led police on a roughly four-hour foot pursuit that caused the Discovery School at Four Corners to shelter-in-place last fall, is being held without the right to bail following Tuesday’s ruling by Franklin County Superior Court Justice John Agostini.

Sanchez, 31, of Springfield, was arrested on two active warrants, as well as a host of criminal charges, including attempted kidnapping, carjacking and unarmed robbery, on Sept. 15, 2024, and was held without bail at his Greenfield District Court arraignment in the days that followed.

According to State Police Trooper Brandon Doherty, when troopers stopped a vehicle on Bernardston Road in Greenfield on Friday, Sept. 13, the occupants exited the vehicle and fled on foot. State and local police pursued two suspects — Sanchez and Chloe O’Malley, 25, of Turners Falls — in a chase that involved an alleged carjacking, multiple incidents of assault and battery, and a kidnapping.

Prosecution

Appearing at a bail hearing last week, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas outlined the alleged actions Sanchez took to evade law enforcement in the hours preceding his arrest, including an alleged attempted carjacking and cellphone theft.

“Mr. Sanchez runs away when the officer is issuing initial requests that everybody keep their hands where he can see them … then is at large for four and a half hours. During that time, he’s trying desperately to get out of Greenfield,” Thomas said. “He’s the one that tried to steal this car with this poor woman inside who’s in her 70s, and then tries to steal a phone from this other woman who was at the threshold of her home. ... The defendant pushes [the second alleged victim] to the ground with her children inside.”

Thomas, in his description of the state’s evidence against Sanchez, recalled a conversation between Sanchez and the arresting officers in which Sanchez allegedly bragged about how long he had been on the run after the traffic stop.

Noting that Sanchez had two active warrants at the time of the arrest, Thomas went on to request that the defendant be held without bail. Thomas listed Sanchez’s prior and active charges, which include possession of heroin, possession of cocaine, assault and battery on a household member, assault and battery on a disabled person, and armed robbery.

“It’s not just the predicate offenses and how he terrified the community of Greenfield with them that prompts the commonwealth to file this motion, but it’s his record that really is the commonwealth’s best argument,” Thomas said. “He’s done state prison time for assault and battery on a disabled person, bundled in with that was yet another armed robbery. ... This is a gentleman that, when he’s been given conditions of pre-trial release or post plea, probationary conditions, he’s not able to follow the conditions of the court.”

Defense

Attorney Bill Lane, who represented Sanchez, argued that his client should be released on “strict conditions,” including house arrest, curfew, regular sobriety testing and mental health treatment, explaining that the prosecution had not yet met its burden of proof that there were no release conditions it could place to ensure the public’s safety.

Lane also noted that Sanchez’s mental health struggles, for which he said his client had self-medicated, took center stage in many of Sanchez’s previous run-ins with the law. Requesting that the defendant be released on $5,000 cash bail, Lane explained that while Sanchez was incarcerated in the past, he consistently attended and completed mental health and drug treatment programs.

“[Sanchez’s] family had been very frank with me about his mental health. He’s always struggled with it and he’s self-medicated, but he’s also been pharmaceutically medicated,” Lane said. “[Sanchez] has two children at home in Springfield. In that same home is his mother, nieces and nephews, who come and go. … He will reside in that home with his mother as a GPS base. The court could impose GPS conditions as extreme as home confinement — I would argue that for a lot of reasons, including some of the things I’m going to also add to that package, he should be on a strict curfew.”

After last Thursday’s bail hearing, Agostini responded on Tuesday with his ruling that Sanchez continue to be held without the right to bail. With a December trial planned, Matthew and Lane agreed to meet for a pretrial conference in June.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.