GREGORY E. HEFTY
WESTFIELD – A homeless man accused of capriciously burning another homeless man’s tent is in custody after he was found, arrested and arraigned.
The underlying incident occurred in the very early hours of the morning July 9 when police were summoned at midnight to the wooded area behind the Westfield Shops on East Main Street for a report of two men fighting.
The responding police found a homeless man who said that he had shared a campsite in the brush with another homeless man who had returned to their encampment drunk and had started to yell at him. The victim told the officers that that the other man had said “watch this” as the man set his tent afire.
The suspect was identified as Gregory E. Hefty, 38, of no fixed address in Westfield, but had fled, leaving his tent and belongings at the campsite where the victim’s tent and belongings had been completely burned.
Police obtained a warrant for Hefty’s arrest which Community Policing Officer Steven Nacewicz (who knew Hefty from past dealings) was aware of when he saw Hefty sitting on a bench at Park Square Thursday evening.
Nacewicz approached Hefty and reports that the suspect, who said that he had been expecting the warrant, was cooperative when he was arrested.
Hefty’s record includes more than a dozen arraignments since 2004 on charges ranging from disorderly conduct through malicious destruction of property to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
He was arraigned on Friday in Westfield District Court on a charge of burning personal property valued more than $25 before Judge William O’Grady but a bail hearing was not possible because there was no bar advocate available to represent Hefty.
O’Grady set bail at $200, without prejudice, pending a bail hearing Monday when a public defender is expected to be available. Hefty did not post the bail and was held in custody to await the hearing.
