ATHOL — State Troopers used a Taser to subdue a 56-year-old man in his South Street home prior to his arrest Friday morning.
South Street and the surrounding side streets were closed during an eight-hour standoff between Massachusetts State Police and Jeffery Wheeler, of 253 South St., who refused to surrender when police arrived to serve a warrant for his arrest.
Wheeler was allegedly wanted for threats made against a state judge. An alert to be on the lookout for Wheeler was issued late Thursday afternoon. His vehicle was spotted outside his residence. Police arrived at his home around 7 p.m. to serve the warrant.
The State Police stated that although Wheeler has had his license to carry revoked in the past, police believed he may still have had access to a firearm. Multiple attempts to ask him to surrender were turned down, police said.
This led to an escalation in the conditions, and the State Police Special Tactical Operations Team was called in. The troopers established a perimeter around Wheeler’s house, which was equipped with outdoor cameras. Officers forced entry into the home around 3 a.m. and used a Taser on Wheeler, who was considered hostile, to take him into custody without using lethal force and without significant injury to him or to themselves. Wheeler was taken to Athol Hospital for evaluation and then to the Athol State Police Barracks for booking.
No information was released by State Police on his court date or the conditions of his arrest. As of 2 p.m. Friday, Wheeler had not been arraigned in court.
Wheeler was last arrested in early April, following a call to the Athol Police Department reporting a man was acting in an aggressive manner and making threats inside a place of business on Main Street. At that time, Wheeler was taken into custody on a straight warrant for failure to appear in court.
Wheeler had filed two cases against the state this past year in Federal Court. One, which was first filed in March, issued a complaint against the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety; it was dismissed July 13. Another case, which was against the Commonwealth and TD Bank in May, had its last court filing on the day of the incident, July 26. In the cases, Wheeler claims, in part, that the state, and at times specifically Gov. Charlie Baker, have recorded and spied on him in his home.