Danvers Fire Chief Held in Jail, Placed On Administrative Leave
Danvers Fire Chief Kevin Farrell was arrested early Wednesday morning on assault charges.
As result of an early morning reported assault, Danvers Fire Chief Kevin Farrell will be held without bail at Middleton Jail until Friday, when he will face a dangerousness hearing in Haverhill.
Farrell, 49, of 43 Garrison St. in Groveland, was arraigned this morning at Haverhill District Court, after being arrested at 1:28 a.m. on charges of assault and intimidation of a witness.
According to the Salem News, Farrell's 24-year-old daughter called police at 1:41 a.m. from 251 Center St. in Groveland, where his estranged wife lives.
Essex County Assistant District Attorney Ashley Logan said Farrell had gone to the Centre Street home three times Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, Boston.com reports.
Farrell's attorney said the fire chief reportedly suffers from emotional problems. Police records said he told his wife, "Nobody cares about me, nobody loves me," after grabbing her wrist and hitting himself with her hand.
Police said there were no injuries to his wife and no weapon was used.
Town Manager Wayne Marquis said Farrell will be held on paid administrative leave pending investigation charges.
He said the department will be under the command of the department's four captains for the immediate future, according to Boston.com.
Farrell first became a firefighter in 1988, and has been acting as Danvers Fire Chief since April of 2010. He was sworn in officially in June 2011.
Adrian
6:16 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Just another corrupt Danvers official!!!! Throw this trash out cause all they do is hold this town back.
Janette Farrell
7:48 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Who are you to say he is corrupt? Do you know anything about this gentleman? He has given over 25 years of his life to the Department. He worked hard to earn his rank as Chief. Until you walk a mile in his shoes, zip your mouth!
Janette Farrell
7:49 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
and no, I am not related to him!
thomas welenc
8:33 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I am related to him and he is a dirt bag
Adrian
7:57 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I will never "zip my mouth" and I have dealt with him on many occasions on a business platform and have the impression that he is corrupt so take your defense of this domestic assaulter and shove it!!!!
Janette Farrell
9:24 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Adrian, what I have read from your comments is, he has made you follow the rules and regulations and you don't like it. Your opinion is an impression you received because he told you to do something and you didn't like it. I was not defending his actions in this case, I was merely pointing out that all the facts are not out in this case, and due to your closed mindedness you have already convicted him. For your next trick I would like to see you walk on water. In other words, unless you are perfect, have never made a mistake, lied etc. don't judge. You don't have all the facts, you weren't there. The only people that know what happened are the Chief and his wife. I feel bad for all involved in this.
thomas welenc
8:30 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I can tell you he is a piece of **** he put his wife's brother in prison when he went through a bad divorce. I know because I'm his wife's brother, he has done nothing but bad thing to our family Just goes to show you what goes around comes around!
guest1234
10:30 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
he just threw you in prison, all by himself? You didn't help out at all by doing something illegal? LOL.. not commenting on the story but found this funny.
Brian Dapice
10:37 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
None of this are topics for a public forum. This is quite the unfortunate story, and trampling accomplishes absolutely nothing. Thomas & Adrian, you should be ashamed of yourselves!
Janette Farrell
9:24 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thank you Brian for showing that common sense is still alive!
helen burns
9:24 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Yes, domestic violence is an unfortunate story...for the victims! When he "tossed the mattress" his wife was sleeping on it...unfortunate for her! With a history of restraining orders he was hired as Fire Chief...unfortunate for the Town of Danvers. But all that is OK because he is an "excellent Fire Chief".
Guest
9:24 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
I agree. Somehow our culture has determined EVERYTHING is fair game to tabloid treatment. Clearly Mr. Farrell has personal issues that have become enmeshed with his marital difficulties. Both however are private and personal. Too bad folks are not following in our Town Manager's support of his professionalism on the job. I had occasion to visit with Chief Farrell several months ago for a neighbors reckless burning. I found him to be open, professional and genuinely focused on Danver's quality of life. So get off the gossip.
Edgar Allan Bro
3:26 pm on Friday, June 29, 2012
If you have "emotional problems" you shouldn't be in any kind of supervisory capacity, much less the commander of an entire department of public servants. Rest assured this emotionally unstable fire chief unjustly used his status to his advantage. You don't need facts to figure that out, you just need to be intelligent.
Guest
11:44 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
"emotional problems" sounds like you've rendered a diagnosis to which I doubt you are qualified to make. Let's allow the parties involved to sort things out and begin to heal. Remember, the compassion and mercy we show toward others is a measure of our own character. As Brian has aptly pointed out, WE ALL have been faced with life's struggles and WE ALL do not handle EVERY ONE perfectly.
Brian Dapice
9:39 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
I couldn't agree less Edgar. Chief Farrell is clearly struggling in his personal life. And everyone has their own struggles, some have relationship issues, some carry overwhelming debt, some have dependancies, etc. But Chief Farrell's issues clearly take two to tangle. His wife isn't only the victim, if she's even a victim because we really don't know what consummated before this, she's also the subject matter. Helen makes the best point. There are currently several losers in this case. I now live in Beverly, so I don't know Chief Farrell. My interests here on Danvers Patch lie between having grown up in Danvers and my own real estate career, which is largely supported by my Danvers roots. Danvers is an excellent community to live, and that's largely because they have great town government, along with DPW, Police and Fire Departments that have a genuine care for the overall safety for it's citizens and businesspeople. Last time I read Chief Farrell was in charge of one of those town municipalities. Give the professionals the time they need to sort this issue out and the outcome will without a doubt benefit everyone, including Chief Farrell. And I am sure when the time is right, Chief Farrell will be back serving the public as he has successfully been doing for many years.
MaryJ
4:04 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012
If he wasn't fire chief would this be the major topic of discussion? I think not. Let the entire family deal with this privately.