Man arrested with knife at elementary school

SAUGUS – Saugus Police arrested a 19-year-old Gloucester man after a disturbance behind a local elementary school Tuesday afternoon and charged him with violating the town?s knife ordinance.Jared Antonio Papadimitriou, 19, of 42 Fort Square, Gloucester was arrested behind the Waybright Elementary School and charged with carrying a knife in excess of two-and-a-half inches on Tuesday at 12:01 p.m., according to the Saugus Police log.Records from Lynn District Court state that the Waybright principal called police to report three males causing a disturbance behind the school.?Det. Moynihan reported the principal stated the males were yelling at her and swearing during school hours,” wrote officer Thomas DiPietro in his report.Police checked the area and later found the three males lying in the grass in the center of the track area at the Belmonte Middle School.DiPietro stated the three males headed toward the railroad tracks where he told them to stop. After frisking one of the men, DiPietro stated he found a knife approximately 3-and-a-half inches long in the pocket of one of the men. He also stated he could smell a “strong odor of alcohol emanating from his body.”DiPietro identified the man as Papadimitriou and in the report, Papadimitriou said he thought the knife was legal because it “was the size of the palm of his hand.”The police log also states an 18-year-old Revere man was taken into protective custody for public intoxication.Saugus Police Lt. Ronald Giorgetti said the three were likely walking from Saugus Center and cut through the back yard of the school.?They were asked to leave the grounds, and they continued to yell and there were more profanities directed at the principal,” said Giorgetti. “She contacted us, we located the males and subsequently, one was placed under arrest and the other was placed in protective custody.”Giorgetti said students were never in any danger from the incident.?It was a small knife and it was in his pocket,” he said.Papadimitriou was released on personal recognizance by Judge Ellen Flatley, and ordered to pay a $50 fine and forfeit his knife.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].