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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 115
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2016
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
HUNTER S. THOMPSON
75 cents
Westfield man charged with child porn after tip from Arizona police
Customers subdue knife-wielding man at Westfield liquor store By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Customers came to the aid of a store clerk who was nearly stabbed by a deranged man last week. Abimael Benitez, 40, of 44 Franklin St., walked into Ryan’s Liquors, located at 31 Franklin Street, around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, according to police logs. After the clerk asked Benitez to leave the store, the defendant pulled out a folding knife and attempted to stab the clerk about the head, neck and face area, Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe told The Westfield News on Friday. At press time, the reason Benitez was asked to leave the store is still unclear.Ryan Liquors1 Customers, who had been waiting in line, were able to subdue Benitez and push him out of the store. When officers arrived at the scene, several people were
waiting for them outside the store. They said the suspect was wearing a bright yellow “hi vis” shirt. Police caught up with Benitez at his nearby residence about a half hour later. With the help of the victim and witnesses, who could identify Benitez, and the surveillance video, which had captured the assault, Benitez was arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon (to wit: a knife) and assault & battery. McCabe said the situation was very odd. No motive could be found for the assault. Police, with the help of the Westfield Fire Department, searched the area, including the roof of Brakes Plus, for the knife. Police did not say whether the knife was recovered. Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at christinec@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com Follow her on Twitter @charnoskyWNG
Food Fest deadline nears for vendors By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD — Elm Street will once again flourish with the tastes and sounds of the Greater Westfield area as the Rotary Club of Westfield sponsors its second annual Westfield Food Fest Aug. 26-28. “With many new eateries opening since our last event, we plan to reach out and encourage them to consider joining the event,” said Eric Forish, event coordinator, adding “There has also been a strong interest by musicians to participate.” Forish noted that with the successful launch last year of its first two-day Food Fest, Rotarians decided to extend the event to three days. Westfield Food Fest is planned Aug. 26, 5 to 9 p.m., Aug. 27, noon to 9 p.m., and Aug. 28, noon to 6 p.m. Tented seating will be available for patrons. “We had perfect weather and thousands of people attended last year,” said Forish, noting the overall goal is to bring area residents back to the downtown area. “Last year we also had continuous music throughout the event and plan to rotate bands again this year from the musical stage in front of Westfield Bank,” said Forish. Forish said he expects close to 25 food vendors to offer a unique variety of edibles, ranging from traditional fare of
Westfield Rotarians Rick Buzzee, Chris Carey and Kevin Donovan will return to work the beer and wine truck for the 2016 Food Fest.
soups and sandwiches to business specialties and ice cream. At press time, vendors committed to participate include Bistro Bus, featuring soft tacos with a choice of pork or chicken, as well as specialty salads; Silver Platter Mobile Catering, selling Philly cheese steak sandwiches; Buster’s, offering hot dogs and sandwiches; Ed & Angie’s Food Truck, showcasing specialties including hot and cold soups, grilled sandwiches, Hungarian vegetable stew over rice, and desserts; Moe’s Donuts, selling an assortment of doughnuts; Angelo’s Fried Dough, specializing in fried dough, homemade pretzels and lemonade; Ed’s French Fries, selling French fries and beverages; JND Amusements, offering candied apples, cotton candy, and a variety of novelties; Pasquale’s, selling pizza; the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield, offering popcorn and ice cream, and the Boy Scouts selling watermelon. Additionally, Sun Kim Bob’s Korean Food Truck will be offering specialties, as well as Janik’s Pierogi Café, Papp’s Grill and the Shortstop Bar & Grill. All vendors will be located on Elm Street between Franklin Street and Main Street. Rotarians will once again sell beer and wine “to enhance the overall experience,” notes Jennifer Gruszka, Rotary president. A deadline of June 15 has been set for vendors from restaurants and caterers to food trucks to sign up to participate. All of the details for vendors can be found at www.westfieldrotary.org. Lynn Boscher and Robert Herrick are coordinating the logistics of the weekend’s entertainment and those interested in more information about performing are also encouraged to visit the website. Gruszka has been assisting Forish with the logistics, along with Tim Flynn, Rotary’s president-elect, and committee members Boscher and Herrick, on entertainment; Rick See FooD Fest Deadline, Page 3
By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man was arraigned on child pornography charges after a detective from Arizona contacted the Massachusetts State Police. A Det. Randal Snyder from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Florence, Arizona, contacted the MSP Detective Unit on April 5 regarding an ongoing investigation into the distribution of child pornography. MSP Trooper Matthew Simpson of the Division of Investigative Services — Hampden State Police Detective Unit outlined the details of the case in a nine-page memo, which describes what led to the charges against Brian A. Calhoun of 12 Fremont Street. Calhoun, 34, was released on $10,000 personal surety after being arraigned in Westfield District Court Thursday on charges of distributing material of a child in a sexual act and possessing child pornography, according to court records. According to Arizona Detective Snyder, the case involves “sexual exploitation of a minor” involving the Kik texting app, Simpson wrote. “Kik is a trendy, cross-platform smartphone application” used for instant messaging friends individually or in groups, according to webtrends.about.com. In October, “while conducting proactive investigations into the trade of child sexual exploitation images on Kik messenger,” Snyder found a subject, identified by a user name (which later turned out to be Calhoun), posting an image and five videos depicting “sexual exploitation and abuse of young children, likely under the age of 15,” according to Simpson’s memo. Calhoun was identified after Snyder issued subpoenas to Kik, who provided a confirmed email address, as well as to Comcast and Sprint, who identified Calhoun’s phone model and IP address. It took nearly two months for Arizona detectives to gather this information from the subpoenas, according to Simpson. MSP began its own investigation, and on April 14, conducted surveillance outside of Calhoun’s Fremont Street home in Westfield. On April 20, six MSP troopers, one Westfield police officer and two WPD detectives executed a search warrant at 12 Fremont Street, which included interviewing Calhoun and his wife. Information obtained through the interviews and items found in the home during the search, confirmed Snyder’s allegations, including the type of phone Calhoun owned/used, his Internet service provider, Calhoun’s usernames on various accounts including Kik and two phones that contained child pornography, according to Simpson. The images included pictures of females, ranging in age from 6 to 14-years-old engaging in sex acts with each other or with adult males and images of young females posing in a “lascivious manner,” Simpson wrote. Calhoun allegedly admitted to having possessed child pornography and to having sent child pornography–images allegedly retrieved from Tumblr and others he got through Kik, Simpson wrote. Calhoun denied having ever produced child pornography and denied having ever touched a child in a sexual manner, according to Simpson. Allegedly Calhoun told Simpson during the April 20 interview that his father and his brother are both convicted sex offenders and “he knew where this could lead so he stopped before it went too far,” Simpson wrote. Westfield District Judge Philip A. Contant released Calhoun with 25 “additional conditions of pretrial release,” including not having any unsupervised contact in any way with a child age 17 or under nor is Calhoun to reside in the same dwelling with any child age 17 or under, including his own children. Calhoun is due back in Westfield District Court on July 12 for a pretrial conference. Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at christinec@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com Follow her on Twitter @charnoskyWNG
More Massachusetts drivers cited for texting while driving BOSTON (AP) — State data show that the number of people getting ticketed by police for texting while driving in Massachusetts has steadily increased since it became illegal six years ago. The state Transportation Department says 6,131 were given tickets for texting behind the wheel, up from 1,153 in 2011, the first full year the law took effect. The Boston Globe reports that of the more than 18,000 tickets issued for texting while driving from the year the law took effect in 2010 to mid-April of this year that more than 56 percent were issued to men. People age 40 and younger received more than 75 percent of the tickets. The most common time of day to receive a texting-whiledriving ticket was 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. during the evening commute.