LUCAS WILLARD: WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes joins us now to explain what led to the break. Hello Josh.
Hello Lucas.
Let’s start with a refresher- what happened in Hinsdale in January?
On January 7, a 27-year-old Black man in a mental health crisis was shot and killed by a Hinsdale police officer during a welfare check that included two officers from the Dalton Police Department. Biagio Kauvil had called for help while suffering from intense feelings of paranoia, specifically citing a fear of local police. The situation became violent only after police breached the locked door of a room he was sequestered in legally carrying a licensed firearm. Police maintain they did not know he had it at the time. In the short confrontation that followed, Kauvil was tackled by multiple officers, his gun went off beneath his body hitting two of the officers, and Jeremy Spratt of the Hinsdale PD fired two shots - one that hit a fellow officer and another that hit Kauvil in the head, killing him.
Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue investigated the killing for three months. What were his findings?
On April 14, Shugrue said that after going through evidence including interviews, body cam footage, and ballistic reports, Spratt’s decision to shoot and kill Kauvil was technically legal - but he criticized Hinsdale police leadership, specifically identifying Chief Shawn Boyne and Sergeant Dom Crupi. Shugrue called for an independent investigation into the police department, which Hinsdale town voters have already approved funding for.
Josh, yesterday you obtained a letter from the Dalton Police Department to the town of Hinsdale formally ending the mutual aid agreement that saw Dalton officers respond to the Kauvil call. How did you find this document, and what did you learn from it?
A tip that I received led to a public records request, and the letter – dated the same day as Shugrue’s press conference on the results of his investigation – is remarkable. In a rare moment of law enforcement openly criticizing their own, Dalton Police Chief Deanna Strout says she feels the Hinsdale PD is so mismanaged and untrustworthy that it poses a risk to both her officers and the public at large. On top of the killing of Kauvil, Strout refers to other situations when members of Dalton PD observed Hinsdale act in concerning ways, and says her department would no longer work with Hinsdale, due to issues around professionalism, accountability, and trust.
In the letter, Dalton’s chief specifically calls out Hinsdale’s chief for comments made about a Dalton officer in an interview with Massachusetts State Police about the Kauvil killing. Can you explain that?
Dalton Police Chief Deanna Strout says that she was informed by the Berkshire DA’s office that Hinsdale Police Chief Shawn Boyne claimed Dalton officer Chelsea Eichstedt made the decision to breach the door and confront Kauvil. I’ve found the segments of the interview in which Boyne attempts to shift blame onto Eichstedt. The Hinsdale chief was unquestionably responsible for handling the scene, and the idea that a responding mutual aid officer of a lower rank took charge of the situation is easily disproven. Eichstedt was wearing a body camera that captured a key moment in which Boyne clearly states his plan long before the ultimate confrontation. Hinsdale officers do not wear body cameras, and that is a separate kettle of fish that I am investigating.
Let’s play the clip from roughly 20 minutes before Kauvil is killed. You’ll hear three voices talking outside the home - first Eichstedt, then fellow Dalton Police Officer Jacob Tiffany, and finally the Hinsdale chief.
EICHSTEDT: [Kauvil] called 911.
TIFFANY: So, if he doesn’t open, do we want to hold off?
EICHSTEDT: We’re having an ambulance staged.
BOYNE: We’re going to probably want to just go get him because he’s not even going out for the family, and he’s a risk to himself, obviously, by his own statements.
EICHSTEDT: Yeah, yeah.
Boyne’s statement was even at the time inconsistent with other evidence, and is even undercut by his own interview with state police.
By all accounts – including Boyne’s own – Kauvil was distressed but not behaving violently or dangerously.
The Hinsdale chief describes Kauvil’s demeanor as being at a 5 out of 10 – as he puts it, “elevated but not crisis elevated” – before his on-camera conversation with the Dalton officers where he claims Kauvil is “a risk to himself, obviously, by his own statements.” Kauvil never said he was going to hurt himself or others, and that makes Boyne’s claim suspect.
Later in Boyne’s interview with State Police, he tries to again claim Eichstedt gave him the go-ahead to break into Kauvil’s locked room. Boyne also in his interview misrepresented the situation as “dragging on,” when Hinsdale Sergeant Dom Crupi – seen grinning at his fellow officers before breaking into Kauvil’s room – had in fact only talked to the man who had called for help for a few minutes before the breach.
So, Josh- where does the ongoing investigation into the Hinsdale Police stand?
There are still so many unanswered questions- what are the other incidents of concerning decision-making Strout refers to in the letter? What is the status of an independent investigation into the Hinsdale PD, and what will it find? How can Kauvil’s killing be technically legal in the eyes of the DA when the architects of the situation that left him dead are being so deeply scrutinized and criticized, even by fellow police?
To make matters worse, Hinsdale’s leadership – including town administrator Robert Graves and acting Police Chief Bruce Cullett – have refused requests for comment on the ongoing situation, which only seems to grow exponentially.
I’m still reviewing the full report and have many more Freedom of Information Act requests out to various towns, departments, and state agencies, so there will certainly be more to come.
That’s WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes. Thanks Josh.
Thank you, Lucas.
After this story aired, Hinsdale Town Administrator Bob Graves issued the following statement to WAMC:
While the Town of Hinsdale acknowledges Chief Strout’s decision regarding mutual aid responses, we strongly disagree with the rationale offered to justify it. It is deeply concerning that conclusions about officer and public safety are being drawn from selective interpretations of statements made in the aftermath of an extraordinarily complicated and tragic incident in which officers—including Dalton officers—found themselves confronted by an armed individual firing a gun during a rapidly evolving mental health crisis.
The events of January 7 were traumatic for everyone involved, including the officers who placed themselves in harm’s way. Any fair review of those events should recognize the difficult and split-second decisions made under extreme circumstances, rather than using hindsight and ambiguity to cast blame on officers and agencies that responded in good faith to protect lives and public safety.
It is equally troubling that vague references to unspecified “past incidents” are being used to broadly characterize the Hinsdale Police Department.
All municipalities in Berkshire County sign on to a mutual aid agreement, including Hinsdale, and we appreciate and will honor our commitment to mutual aid for the common good. Acting Hinsdale Police Chief Bruce Cullett has revised the Department’s standard operating procedure to include the Becket Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police as the primary agencies for mutual aid requests in light of Chief Strout's action.
Hinsdale is also grateful to the Peru Select Board and Chief Cullett, who is serving as Chief for both Towns via a mutual aid agreement with Peru following the January 7 incident.
