State police officer arrested in Mansfield and dismissed from service

A Massachusetts State Police trooper has been relieved of duty after being arrested over the weekend for an alleged domestic violence incident.

Police officer Richard Whelan, 27, is accused of domestic violence after authorities say he grabbed his 26-year-old girlfriend by the neck and shook her in his Mansfield home around midnight Saturday. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday and was released on bail.

According to a police report filed in Attleboro District Court, officers responded to Whelan's Draper Avenue neighborhood around 12:05 a.m. Saturday for a reported disturbance. Whelan and his girlfriend had attended a Dierks Bentley concert with another couple earlier in the evening, and police said a verbal argument about mental health issues broke out as the group was leaving the venue.

Whelan allegedly became angry and said his girlfriend and another woman present “did not understand mental health issues from a law enforcement perspective,” according to the report. He then called his girlfriend a “damn disgrace to this entire community,” police said.

When the group returned to Whelan's house, he reportedly punched a wall as he entered the house. The other woman, who had attended the concert, followed Whelan and his girlfriend into the house to get some things while her own boyfriend waited outside. According to the police report, she told officers she heard a commotion and saw Whelan standing in the kitchen with his hands around his girlfriend's neck, shaking her back and forth.

Whelan allegedly told his girlfriend he hated her and then walked outside, the report said. The woman, who witnessed the alleged incident, told her boyfriend what she had seen, and he called 911.

Whelan's breath smelled of alcohol when he spoke to police, the report said. His girlfriend allegedly told officers “that nothing happened and that Richard did nothing wrong.” She had no visible marks on her neck, although officers noticed obvious blood on her collar, which police said could be consistent with a wound on Whelan's knuckles, the report said.

Whelan notified his supervisor of his arrest, and state police coordinated with Mansfield police to recover the trooper's equipment, firearm and patrol car, the report said. A state police spokesperson confirmed that Whelan has been relieved of duty and is now the subject of an ongoing internal investigation.

“Richard Whelan is presumed innocent, he maintains his innocence, and we are confident that when the dust settles, he will be acquitted of these charges,” his defense attorney Benjamin P. Urbelis said in a statement Tuesday.