GREENFIELD — The three men arrested in connection with a January shooting in Orange pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon and were ordered to have no contact with one another or the named victim.
Conan J. Gentile, Michael J. Coleman and Michael T. Rahaim appeared before Judge Michael Callan via the online video conferencing platform Zoom, their case having been moved from Orange District Court.
Gentile, 50, of Fitchburg, faces two counts of misleading a police officer and single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possession of a firearm without an FID card, misleading a witness and withholding evidence in a criminal investigation.
Coleman, 41, of Townsend, was arraigned on two counts of misleading a police officer and single counts of accessory to a crime after the fact and withholding evidence from a criminal proceeding.
Rahaim, 51, of Westminster, faces charges of accessory to a crime after the fact, misleading a police officer and withholding evidence from a criminal proceeding.
Gentile is being held at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield pending a dangerousness hearing set for June 14, while Coleman posted $10,000 bail was transferred from District Court, as was Rahaim, who posted $3,000 bail.
Assistant District Attorney Erin Aiello, who is representing the state, told Callan the Orange Police Department received a 911 call from Gentile at roughly 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, indicating two people had kicked in the door to enter his Lois Street residence and then shot his girlfriend. Officers arrived and met with Gentile outside the home. Inside, they found a woman in bed with what appeared to be a gunshot wound through both legs. Aiello said the woman was taken to Athol Memorial Hospital, where it was determined a bullet went through one leg and then the other.
According to Aiello’s summary, Gentile then told officers one armed person had entered the residence. An investigation revealed a truck had been outside the home the night before and the morning of the incident. Authorities learned Coleman had left the house in that truck and drove to Westminster shortly before the 911 call was made.
Coleman reportedly told investigators he was provided a backpack with a firearm and brought it to an individual, later identified as Rahaim, in Westminster. Coleman later told authorities there had been no home invasion and the residence’s only inhabitants were Gentile, Gentile’s girlfriend and Coleman, who was residing on the couch.
Authorities were unable to recover the firearm.
Massachusetts State Police spokesperson David Procopio previously explained that troopers responded around midday on Jan. 15 to assist Westminster Police with a barricaded suspect, later identified as Gentile, at the Rodeway Inn on East Main Street in Westminster. Gentile was taken into custody at roughly 1 p.m. by troopers assigned to the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactical Operations (STOP) Team.
A State Police K-9 unit and a trooper from the State Police bomb squad also responded. The bomb squad trooper “was prepared to deploy a robot into the room where the suspect was barricaded in order to provide the teams outside the room visual situational awareness of the suspect’s position,” according to Procopio. However, Gentile left the room and was apprehended prior to the robot’s deployment.
Gentile is represented by David Simanski. Coleman is represented by Timothy Flynn, and Rahaim is represented by John Godleski. Prior to court entering session, First Assistant Clerk Magistrate Ben Simanski asked if any party had an issue with him serving during a session involving his father, David, but no one objected.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.