Melrose Police Contribute To Capturing Group Of Vandals

MELROSE, MA — The Police Department was named as an important contributor by the United States Attorney's Office in the prosecution and eventual sentencing of a vandal who targeted local journalists.

Keenan Saniatan, 36, of Nashua, New Hampshire was recently sentenced to 30 months in prison for his involvement in the harassment and intimidation of two New Hampshire Public Radio journalists. He is one of four conspirators charged in the string of vandalism, along with Eric Labarge, Tucker Cockerline, and Michael Waselchuck.

The crimes were reportedly retaliation for a story published by NHPR detailing sexual misconduct by someone who was a close friend of Labarge.

On May 21, 2022, a male was captured on a Ring doorbell throwing a brick through the front window of a house on the Lynn Fells Parkway and then spray painted “just the beginning” on the front of the house in red. Saniatan was specifically identified by the U.S. Attorney's Office for committing two of the transgressions at homes in Concord and Hampstead, New Hampshire in April 2022.

Saniatan was the last of the defendants to be sentenced, with Labarge, Cockerline, and Waselchuck receiving sentences of 46, 27, and 21 months in November respectively.