WEBSTER, MA — A 44-year-old man was arrested Sunday after allegedly assaulting a victim with a box cutter and illegally possessing a firearm with a defaced serial number.
Webster Police Officers responded at approximately 12:30 p.m. to a report of a violent assault in which a victim had been cut with a box cutter.
The perpetrator, identified as Jeremy Ouellette, of Webster, reportedly struck the victim in the head numerous times, kicked down a door, choked the victim, and cut them with a box cutter, causing a small laceration to their hip.
Police received information that Ouellette was at an apartment at the Hartley Terrace Apartment Complex and was armed with a shotgun or rifle.
Ouellette was known to be extremely violent and had been convicted of numerous firearms offenses in the past.
Officers from the day and evening shifts proceeded to the apartment complex and surrounded the building, establishing a secure perimeter.
Officer Joshua Collins established communication with Ouellette via a security surveillance system and convinced him to surrender to authorities.
Ouellette exited the apartment building and was taken into custody without incident.
Detectives applied for and were granted a search warrant for the apartment.
Environmental Police Officer Arthur O’Connell and his K-9 partner, Tonka, a certified firearms-sniffing K-9, responded to conduct a sniff of the apartment.
Upon execution of the search warrant, K-9 Tonka positively alerted within the apartment, which led to the discovery and seizure of a shotgun that was hidden under a sofa.
The shotgun, a Mossberg 12-gauge, had its serial number scratched off, making it completely unreadable.
Ouellette does not possess a firearms permit in any state and is a convicted felon.
Ouellette was charged with assault and battery on a family/household member, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm without an FID card, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, improper storage of a firearm, and armed career criminal, Level 3.
At the time of his arrest, Ouellette was under indictment from the Worcester Superior Court for charges stemming from an earlier incident in which he attempted to burn a house down and assaulted police officers during the course of his arrest.
He was out on bail for that incident and was wearing an electronic monitoring device.
Ouellette has previously served sentences in both state prison and the Worcester County House of Correction for firearms, robbery-related offenses, and other violent crimes.
