Massachusetts

NH School Administrator Tasered, Arrested at Strip Club

A school administrator is facing multiple charges after he was Tasered by police trying to handcuff him when he got too aggressive with dancers at a Massachusetts strip club.

Peter Gagnon, 37, of Pelham, New Hampshire, is charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Gagnon is the dean of students at Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire. He previously worked at Bedford High School and Timberlane High School in Plaistow.

Police said they were called to Ten's Show Club in Salisbury shortly after midnight Wednesday after Gagnon refused to honor requests by security to leave for allegedly getting too close to dancers and repeatedly entering a women's bathroom. 

When officers arrived, they said Gagnon appeared intoxicated and refused their attempts to provide him with a ride home. When they went to handcuff him, he struggled with them and had to be Tasered in order for the officers to get him into a police cruiser.

According to court documents, he continued to cause a disturbance at the police station, making an obscene gesture to police during his booking photo, giving them an expletive-filled answer when they asked for his phone number, punching jail cell walls and and even dipping his head in the prison cell toilet.

"He was intoxicated. He was not cooperative," Salisbury police Chief Tom Fowler said.

Members of the Souhegan community said everyone makes mistakes, but they also said the details in the police report are almost impossible to defend.

"He didn't seem to be a person that would do something like this," said Souhegan graduate William Levesque.

"It's an unfortunate thing for that gentleman, but he should not keep his job," added Amherst dad Mike Bedell.

A woman answered the door at Gagnon's home on Friday, but refused to comment.

Souhegan Superintendent Peter Warburton issued a statement saying in part, "The allegations involving Mr. Gagnon did not involve any students of the District and did not occur during work hours. There are no known allegations related to student safety."

Gagnon is on leave from his job at the high school. He is scheduled to be arraigned in June.

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