VADYM MISIRUK
WESTFIELD – A defendant who had been released on bail after arraignment last month on charges including indecent assault and battery was held without right to bail Tuesday after he was arrested on a half dozen assault charges Sunday afternoon.
Police responded to a call at 1:13 p.m. Sunday from a woman who said that a man was inside her home fighting with her father.
The suspect had fled when Officer Patrick Lusteg arrived at the Western Circle home and he was told that the family had been downstairs when they heard somebody upstairs. The caller told Lusteg that she investigated to find a young man she had dated some months earlier in the kitchen. The young woman said that she had not had contact with the man since she stopped going out with him months ago but said the family suspects that he had vandalized vehicles parked in their driveway.
She said that when her father followed her upstairs an altercation ensued and the man punched her father in the face and kicked him in the groin before he fled. Lusteg was joined by Officer Harry Sienkiewicz who alerted all patrol officers that there was probable cause to arrest the suspect who was reported to be driving a 2001 BMW sedan. Officer Edward Tosado reported at 1:51 p.m. that he had spotted and stopped the suspect’s vehicle on Springfield Road .
Tosado reports that the suspect, later identified as Vadym Misiruk, 18, of 13 Madison St., Westfield, quickly became agitated and refused to get out of the car.
Tosado repeatedly ordered Misiruk to exit the car but the man spat at Tosado and other officers who arrived, punching and continuing to spit at them when they attempted to reach into the car.
Eventually five officers were on the scene and were able to physically drag the struggling man from the car as he continued to resist them. When Misiruk refused to submit, officers repeatedly warned him that a Taser would be used. When an officer made good the threat, the struggling man was able to pull the barbed Taser electrodes from his body and continued to fight with the officers. Even when confronted by a police dog, Aires, Misiruk continued to resist, punching and attacking the dog.
One officer was bitten by Misiruk and another suffered an apparently broken finger in the melee before he was finally overwhelmed by the officers and taken into custody. He was arrested on four charges of assault and battery a police officer and single charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a shod foot), resisting arrest and mistreating a police dog.
Misiruk has had previous experience with city officers and has two open cases in Westfield District Court. In each case, he had been released after posting $100 cash bail to ensure his return to court on Dec. 13.
In August, Misiruk was arrested for assault and battery after allegedly punching his brother who had intervened when Misiruk had become aggressive toward their mother.
In September, Misiruk was arrested after a more complicated incident in which he allegedly grabbed a woman’s private parts as she was taking pictures on the Franklin Street sidewalk and also struck her with keys he grabbed from her.
In that incident, Officer Taylor Derrig reports that, when he accosted Misiruk on the nearby bike path minutes after the alleged assault, the suspect attempted to strike him with his elbow and did so again later, during the booking process. Misiruk was charged in that case with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years-of-age or older, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, assault and disorderly conduct.
In each case he was released after payment of $100 cash bail but when Misiruk appeared Tuesday in Westfield District Court before Judge Bruce S. Melikian he was held without right to bail.
His court-appointed lawyer filed a motion asking that Misiruk be examined to determine if he is mentally competent to assist in his defense. The test for mental competency to stand trial requires that the defendant “has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding of the proceeding against him.”
Melikian allowed the motion and delayed Misiruk’s arraignment until the examination can be completed. Misiruk was held pending the examination and arraignment.
