February 24, 2022
Last week, a 58-year-old homeless man was arrested after disturbing the Harvard General Store. Curtis M. Faith, whose last known residence was a Boston homeless shelter, was charged Wednesday, February 16 with disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property and falsely setting fire.
According to a general store employee, Faith entered the store around 3 p.m. and began rearranging the items on the shelves. When the employee asked him to stop, Faith began breaking things, including some merchandise and the lid of a large glass jar on the counter. One of the two employees on duty called 911. Faith then fled on foot, pulling off the fire alarm while leaving the building.
The entire incident was caught on the security camera of the shop. Police later said that the video showed Faith being very aggressive and threatening employees.
Four Harvard police officers, including Chief James Babu, answered the 911 call. Detective Daniel Fortunato and officers Charles Janetti and Aaron Cavanaugh begin a search for Faith. As the search expanded, two state police officers from the K-9 unit came to the aid, but their help proved unnecessary: Harvard officers located Faith at the ball field on Pond Road.
Police took Faith to Emerson Hospital under a Massachusetts law known as Section 12, which allows emergency hospitalization of someone who is at risk of serious harm because of a mental illness. Fortunato said video from the general store’s camera convinced emergency room workers that Faith posed a serious threat. By the time this matter came to light, Aastha was still in the hospital. Fire Chief Rick Sicard also came to the general store to reset the fire alarm Faith had activated.
Earlier that day, at around 6 a.m., Faith had created a ruckus at a hotel in Devens and the regional dispatch center there. He was asked to leave from both the places. He may have taken a train from Boston to Devens, but it is not clear how he traveled to Harvard after that.
Faith graduated from Bromfield School in 1982 and attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute. According to information online, he started a software company that failed shortly after its initial public offering in 1996. He later created a commodity trading business that closed in 2007 amid an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. According to the police, there are more than a dozen open cases against him in different police station areas.
Cambridge Police Daily Log: January 7-9th, 2022
January 8, 2022
Cambridge Police Officers responded to a hotel located at Sidney Street for an unwanted person in a lobby. Officers made several attempts to get the individual to leave the premises willingly after hotel security requested his removal from the grounds due to not being a paying customer. The involved male ultimately refused to leave the hotel grounds. The male became combative with officers and was placed under arrest. As a result of the incident, Curtis Faith, 57, homeless, was taken into custody for Trespassing and Resisting Arrest. While in custody, it was discovered Faith currently had a warrant out of Boston District Court for Disorderly Conduct, Open and Gross Lewdness, Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest, Vandalizing Property and Assault and Battery.
