HADLEY — An 18-year-old man from Holbrook was charged with assault and battery after he allegedly attacked two women on the Norwottuck Rail Trail last week. He told police he was having a “bad trip” on psychedelic mushrooms.
Elijah Moleon was charged with two counts of assault and battery and one count of disorderly conduct after officers had to pull him off the women by warning him with a Taser. He was arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court the day of his arrest on Oct. 14, where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
The women were walking on the rail trail at about 8:30 a.m. when Moleon, who police were looking for after he allegedly was involved in a verbal confrontation with a man in Northampton earlier that day, was seen “lunging” at one of the two women, rolling down the hill with her.
“I observed this individual lunge at one of the other two individuals. For a brief moment, they were out of my field of view due to the tree cover,” Hadley Police Officer William Delgado wrote in the statement of facts. “I heard a scream coming to my left, coming from down a ravine. Upon reaching that location, I observed all three individuals on the ground in the dirt, struggling with one another.”
Delgado wrote that he “ordered the two women to move away” from the man while he drew his Taser and aimed it at Moleon’s chest. After repeated warnings that he would be stunned with a Taser if he did not lie down on his stomach with his hands behind his back, the suspect complied with Delgado’s demands, the officer wrote.
The two women told police that Moleon had walked toward them on the rail trail staggering slightly onto their side of the path and causing them to move over to the opposite side of the trail to avoid him.
“Moleon approached them and entered their personal space. [one of the victims] raised her hand and asked Moleon to step back. Without warning, Moleon lunged at [the other woman], grabbed her around the waist and tackled her down the ravine,” Delgado wrote. “[the victim who was tackled] stated that Moleon punched her several times on the left side of her face.”
After Moleon allegedly tackled one of the women down the ravine, the other followed to help her friend, Delgado wrote. At one point, the woman who came to the aid of her friend was struck in the face with a “glancing blow,’ the officer wrote.
“Both women feared for their lives,” he stated. “[The victim who was tackled] explained that she was able to grab Moleon’s hair to keep him off her and believed that, had she not done so, he would have continued striking her until she was unconscious or dead.”
After he was arrested for the “unprovoked physical assault,” Moleon repeatedly told police that he had taken psychedelic mushrooms at a woman’s apartment earlier that morning and was experiencing a “bad trip,” according to the police report.
“He claimed that he did not remember much of what had occurred that morning,” Delgado wrote. “He acknowledged being aggressive toward [the two women] but stated that he did not remember anything that occurred before his arrest.”
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Hadley Police assured the public that the incident is believed to be isolated and poses no continued threat to the public.
“The arrested male is not local, and this incident is isolated. Regardless, we ask that Rail Trail users to use vigilance, and to remain aware of their surroundings,” Hadley Police wrote. “If you see a police cruiser on the bike path, we have already begun high-visibility patrols in response to this incident.”
Moleon was held on $100 bail at his arraignment, but his bail from a separate criminal case in Quincy was revoked. He is next due in court on Nov. 2.
