ICE Grabs Person in Downtown Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appear to have taken a person into custody in downtown Pittsfield on Tuesday. 

A bystander video was posted to Facebook in the afternoon, and Mayor Peter Marchetti later confirmed that ICE was in Pittsfield, and reported that the city did not assist. 

Agents called the Pittsfield Police Department around 1 p.m. and spoke with the desk sergeant, informing him they were in the area and looking for a specific person. 


"That was all we were provided, and we were not present during any arrest," Marchetti said. 

On Tuesday, a community member posted a minute-long video of what appeared to be an ICE arrest in the Burger King parking lot near Wendell Avenue Extension. The video is blurry, but three masked agents are seen restraining a person on the ground next to a white SUV with the driver's door open. In text, it says "Ice at Burger King in Pittsfield." 

In the background of the video, a bystander says, "They always think that they can do what they want and they hurt other people."

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15 People Displaced in Pittsfield Home Fires

Staff Reports

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fifteen people were displaced after 2-alarm home fires this weekend on Springside Avenue and Elaine Drive. 

On Friday evening, the Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 209 Springside Ave., which took a four-hour battle to extinguish and resulted in a partial roof collapse. The next day, on Saturday evening, crews knocked down a fire at 121 Elaine Drive in about an hour. 

The garage and part of the single-family home on Elaine Drive were gutted to the frame, along with a vehicle parked in the driveway. On Springside Avenue, the top level and porch of the multifamily were burned through.  

A GoFundMe has been started for the family of the Elaine Drive home, which includes several young children.  The fundraiser, with a $5,500 goal, explains they lost their home and all of their belongings. (iBerkshires.com does not confirm or endorse fundraisers; they are provided as information only.)

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries, and both incidents are under investigation.  One dog was rescued on Springside Avenue. 

On Oct. 10, around 6:15 p.m., PFD responded to the Springside Avenue home for a reported structure fire and saw a 2 1/2-story wood frame multifamily with a heavy blaze showing from the second-floor front porch, extending out. 

The building suffered a partial roof collapse, which prolonged extinguishment. The fire was brought under control after about four hours.

“An aggressive offensive attack was mounted by first arriving crews stretching hose lines into the building as well as primary searches that proved negative. Ladders were placed around the structure to provide access as well as escape if needed. An off-duty Fire Captain had also been on scene early in the incident to help evacuate the structure and rescue a dog,” PFD wrote in a press release. 

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