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Former Hollis man headed to prison for beating Mason police chief

The former Hollis man who severely beat Mason’s police chief in January will spend more than a year in prison.

Russell Monbleau III, 39, now of Fitchburg, Mass., pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, simple assault and reckless conduct charges at a hearing at Hillsborough County Superior Court Friday. He was charged with hitting Police Chief Barry Hutchins with a chair and his fists when Hutchins tried to arrest him for possession of crack cocaine, according to court documents.

Monbleau also admitted to throwing a chair at Hutchins, hitting him in the chest and yanking Hutchins’ coat over his head, according to court records. Hutchins’ pancreas was injured in the attack.

Monbleau was sentenced to 11?2 to five years in prison for the second-degree and two simple assault charges. He received a 31?2 to seven year suspended sentence on a reckless conduct charge and prosecutors dropped a resisting arrest charge, according to court records.

Monbleau was arrested in Massachusetts four days after the Jan. 24 confrontation. The fight happened after a traffic stop and Monbleau fled into some nearby woods. Police searched the area but were unable to find him. The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, of Peterborough, reported that Monbleau struck Hutchins multiple times, fought with him on the ground and threw a metal chair at him.

Police from the Brookline, New Ipswich and the Temple-Greenville departments, along with K-9 units from Milford and state police, responded to assist Hutchins and Mason officers in the manhunt for Monbleau.

– CABINET STAFF