Winchester Resident Honored as Good Samaritan

A Winchester resident was one of two good Samaritans the Nashua police honored this week for helping an officer arrest a “combative” suspect at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Scott Peluso, of Winchester and Thomas Panek, of Nashua, helped subdue a man who got into an altercation with police officer Adam Rayho Dec. 17 after Rayho responded to a call about an “undesirable male ... harassing mall employees,” Patch previously reported.

The male was identified as Devon Santos, 18, of Tyngsboro, Mass.

The officer asked Santos to leave the mall; the teenager refused and engaged in an altercation with Rayho, police said.

That’s when Panek and Peluso rushed in to help Rayho handcuff the teen.

“The Nashua Police Department thanks these two men for their selfless actions,” police said in a statement.

Peluso, who’s an auxiliary officer in Winchester, will be presented with a letter at a later date. Panek was presented with a letter by Police Chief Andrew Lavoie.

Photo: Nashua Police Chief Andrew Lavoie and Thomas Panek. (Credit: Nashua police)