SWAMPSCOTT — A town’s police officer showed proactive police work, when he stopped a vehicle breaking and entering on Monday night.
Officer John Cassidy Jr. was working a night shift on Feb. 21, when he observed a man walking down Essex Street and heading up Boulder Way towards Edgehill Road at about 1:30 a.m., according to Swampscott Police Sgt. Jay Locke.
“While being assigned the uptown sector of town during many 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. shifts, it is very uncommon to see any person walking on Boulder Way at this particular time of night,” said Locke.
Cassidy turned onto the Greenway, turned off the lights of his cruiser and proceeded onto Edgehill Road. He then saw the man enter a purple Nissan Murano with Massachusetts license plates through the driver’s-side door.
Since Edgehill Road is a short dead-end street, Cassidy had to drive past the Nissan in order to better the position of his cruiser and speak to the individual in the car, Locke said. As Cassidy conducted a U-turn, he witnessed the man exit the car and run into the adjacent driveway, leaving his backpack behind.
Cassidy called for support and began searching for the man on foot.
Locke and Officer Justin Nestor responded to the call. Together they were able to locate the man 15 minutes later under a porch.
“As I entered a backyard off Edgehill Road, I witnessed the top of the fence to have fresh damage resembling if someone had attempted to jump the fence,” said Cassidy in his police report. “Be advised, the area behind the houses on Edgehill Road has a large dropoff behind the yards and would be difficult for someone unfamiliar with the area to navigate.”
Cassidy and Nestor located the suspect in the backyard directly behind the area where the man initially fled.
“While searching the area I did witness a pair of feet showing from underneath a porch,” Cassidy said.
When the man was apprehended, Cassidy recognized the suspect. It was Joshua Anthony Dixon, 31, of Salem, who was an inmate in the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton when Cassidy worked there as a corrections officer.
“This is an example of great awareness of the community and Officer Cassidy’s patrol route,” said Locke. “Solid proactive policing by Officer Cassidy.”
Cassidy, along with Nestor, Locke said, have proven themselves in their short tenures as police officers time and time again when situations like this are discovered.
Dixon was taken into custody and charged with breaking and entering into a vehicle at nighttime, resisting arrest, possession of burglarious tools and destruction of property. According to Locke, Dixon has a lengthy criminal history: he was previously charged in the Lynn and Salem courts for assault and battery on a police officer; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; assault and battery that caused a child an injury; numerous drug violations; unlawful possession of a firearm as well as discharging a firearm.
Cassidy joined the Swampscott Police Department about three years ago, after working for seven years at the Essex County Correctional Facility. He has been in the Air Force for 14 years, currently serving as a tech sergeant in the reserve on a Weapons Loader Unit with the 158th Fighter Wing “The Green Mountain Boys,” based in Vermont.
Cassidy has been deployed overseas three times in his Air Force career.
