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School committee member says mayor’s office delivery and phone calls felt like ‘intimidation’; police report finds no FRPD dispatch
Summary
School Committee member Colin Dias described receiving a letter delivered by a constable and a phone call he took as intimidation by Mayor Paul Coogan; the Fall River Police Department told Dias no police response to his residence was documented and said the facts did not meet criminal‑intimidation criteria.
School Committee member Colin Dias used the Jan. 13 meeting to respond to a citizen’s written statement and to describe what he called an intimidating interaction tied to his public comments on alleged irregularities in district spending.
Dias said the mayor “sent an unknown uniform man to my house who never said who they were” and later called him, warning that “this is not gonna look good for you, you’re treading a very fine line here right now.” Dias said he perceived the delivery and the comments as attempts to intimidate him after he raised concerns publicly.
The nut graf: the Fall River Police Department reviewed Dias’s account and reported there was no documented police response to the home; a station sergeant described the person who delivered the envelope as a constable and told Dias that the department had no record of dispatching officers to his residence. The police advised Dias that the facts did not meet the statutory elements for criminal intimidation under Chapter 268 §13(b), which requires intent to obstruct or impede a criminal investigation.
The police account — read aloud at the meeting by a department representative — said Dias told officers a man in civilian clothes with a badge approached his parents and handed them an envelope that contained a letter on official mayoral letterhead asking for evidence of alleged financial fraud in the schools. Dias later filed a formal complaint at the station; officers met with him and his mother on the record using body‑worn cameras.
Mayor Paul Coogan responded at the meeting that the mayor’s office had sent a letter and the delivery was executed by a constable; he denied dispatching police to Dias’s home and said he does not believe fraud allegations in the schools have been substantiated.
Ending: Police told Dias they believed his concerns were “understandable” but did not meet criminal‑intimidation standards; both Dias and the mayor reiterated their positions publicly at the meeting. The committee did not take any formal action on the matter during the Jan. 13 session.
