SELF-IMMOLATION? NOT IN SWANTON!
According to Swanton Police Officer Joshua Hooper, a man on Grand Avenue was attempting to burn himself on Saturday morning.
The call came in around 4AM, the report, a man by the name of ‘Matt’ was drunk, and trying to light himself on fire, according to court records.
That report to 911, was apparently called in by himself. Yup, that’s right, if what’s written in the police affidavit is correct, Matthew Cantel-Tipper, 20, of Swanton called police to report that he was trying to burn himself, only he told police it was someone else.
A few minutes later a female called 911, telling the dispatcher that she was with Cantel-Tipper, and although he wasn’t injured, “he was throwing things and wouldn’t calm down.”
A few minutes after the second call to police, Cantel-Tipper called a third time and began screaming at the dispatcher, according to his court record.
Cantel-Tipper then began screaming profanities at the dispatcher, and told them his friend was overdosing, but when the dispatcher asked if the caller was Matt, he refused to provide it, and soon after hung up the phone, according to police.
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If three calls to 911 wasn’t enough, Matthew is accused of calling a fourth time, reporting several medical emergencies about himself, including a seizure and being unconscious.
When officer Hooper arrived, he spoke with the female who said that Cantel-Tipper was faking a seizure and was at the bottom of the stairs, but had not fallen down them.
Matthew had urinated himself to the point where there was a wet mark on the floor directly underneath him and his entire right side of this body from his leg to his shoulder was wet with what smelled like urine,” Officer Hooper said in a written statement to the court.
But when the officer told Cantel-Tipper to stand up and go outside to wait for rescue, Cantel-Tipper did so without incident.
“Matthew appeared to be intoxicated and I could smell the odor of intoxicants emitting from (him),” said Hooper.
A breath test would later provide a reading of 0.179% BAC from the 20-year-old man.
Cantel-Tipper reportedly told police that he had taken Meth and Crack, but the rescue workers told police that he was just trying to avoid going to detox, according to Hooper.
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According to the officer, Cantel-Tipper was brought to Northwestern Medical Center to be medically cleared of any health issues before being brought to prison.
While he was at the hospital, Hooper reported that Cantel-Tipper told both the nurses and the officers “If we don’t get him a cigarette and a drink by 7:30 them we were going to have ‘one ugly cocksucker’ on our hands.”
According to Hooper, the hospital did a blood test on Cantel-Tipper, resulting in a BAC of 0.211%, but that he did not have anything else wrong with him and that he’d be fine.
“It should be noted that Swanton Police Department has been dealing with Matthew frequently as of late,” Hooper wrote to the court, “Matthew calls in whenever he and his mother get into an argument and complains about her being mean to him. Neither one has anywhere to go and they both reside at (the same address) in Swanton. Some nights Matthew calls in several times a night to complain she is arguing with him.”
Cantel-Tipper was held on $2,500 bail until his Monday afternoon arraignment on the charges of false information to a police officer and disorderly conduct. Judge Gregory Rainville released him on conditions, including that he not consume alcohol to the point that it affects his life.
Here’s Cantel-Tipper’s court file if you’d like to read the allegations for yourself.
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