Letter to Officer Bellanger
Shelburne Police Department
John F. Sendelbach 119 State Street Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts June 2026
Officer Bellanger Shelburne Police Department Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
Officer Bellanger,
On December 15, 2025, Judge William F. Mazanec III of Greenfield District Court reviewed the complete video record of the November 22, 2025 incident to which you responded and concluded that my conduct that evening constituted constitutionally protected First Amendment activity that did not exceed its boundaries. Because you participated in that response, I believe you should know how the incident was ultimately evaluated by the court.
On the evening of November 22, you responded to a complaint by Katherine Hennessey that I was harassing her at the Bridge of Flowers light projection show. You located me on private property — the Mill at 119 State Street — and delivered an official caution about harassment.
I was standing on a public sidewalk for fourteen minutes, filming a public art installation. I did not approach Hennessey. I did not speak to her. I did not make any contact with her.
At the December 15 hearing, Judge Mazanec watched the complete fourteen-minute video without interruption. Hennessey, who was present, declined to watch after approximately thirty seconds and asked the judge if she was required to continue viewing it. He appeared surprised by the question and said no. After watching the video in its entirety, Judge Mazanec stated on the record that he does not believe Katherine Hennessey, that he believes me, and that my conduct on the sidewalk that evening was protected First Amendment activity.
The video also documents what you were not present to observe. Before your arrival, Hennessey had been standing approximately six feet in front of me for fourteen continuous minutes while wearing a large paper-maché frog mask. Her own account confirms she wore it to avoid being recognized by me — a notable detail in a harassment complaint. After you delivered the caution and departed, she approached me again and made a parting remark: "I hope you get the help you need." The video depicts her remaining nearby and then approaching me again before leaving.
What happened in the nine days that followed your caution is the reason this letter exists.
On November 29, 2025 — seven days after the caution was delivered to me — I sent a written warning letter to the department. I stated that I was under duress and feared escalation. The department received that letter. No action was taken.
On the morning of November 30, 2025, Katherine Hennessey drove onto my rented property at 119 State Street without invitation or legitimate purpose. She pulled directly to my parked vehicle — past the store entrance where her stated errand would have ended — displayed obscene gestures at me twice, mouthed profanity, and drove away. I called the Shelburne Police Department within twenty minutes. An officer responded, took my statement, and did nothing. No visit was made to Hennessey. No caution was delivered to her. No report was filed for the morning trespass, despite two separate officers having direct knowledge of it within hours of the event.
That evening, Katherine Hennessey and Brook Batteau physically assaulted me outside Floodwater Brewing on Depot Street. I sustained more than thirty blows to the head and face across two separate assault sequences. My recording phone was seized from the pavement while still recording and thrown into the Deerfield River. I was treated for a cardiac emergency. Both defendants were arraigned on April 7, 2026 on charges of Assault and Battery and Malicious Destruction of Property. Active criminal proceedings are pending.
The sequence is as follows:
November 22: Hennessey calls police on me for standing on a public sidewalk. An official harassment caution is delivered to me on private property.
November 29: I send a written warning letter to the department documenting duress and feared escalation. No response. No action.
November 30, morning: Hennessey drives onto my rented property and harasses me. I call police. An officer responds and takes my statement. No caution is delivered to Hennessey. No action is taken.
November 30, evening: The assault occurs.
I want to place your November 22 response in one additional piece of context. In March 2023, Detective Tucker Jenkins and Officer Pettengill co-signed a criminal harassment charge against me based on complaints filed by Katherine Hennessey. Neither officer had spoken to me before signing that charge. On June 6, 2023, at the show-cause hearing, Detective Jenkins was present while I presented video evidence that disproved the claims against me and showed Hennessey engaging in the conduct she had attributed to me. No Probable Cause was found. No corrective action followed from the department.
On November 22, 2025 — thirty months later — you received a complaint from the same person and delivered an official caution to me without speaking to me first or independently verifying the complaint before acting on it. A sitting judge has since reviewed your department's response to that complaint and found it was directed at constitutionally protected activity. The November 29 warning letter documents that I gave the department written notice of escalating danger before the assault occurred. The absence of response to my November 30 morning report is in the same record.
I am not asking you to respond to this letter. I am informing you of what a sitting judge found when he reviewed the event you participated in, and I am placing that information alongside the complete nine-day sequence in the documented record so that you have it.
The materials referenced above are available at johnsendelbach.com. No login. No fee.
Respectfully,
John F. Sendelbach Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts johnsendelbach.com
CC: Chief Steven Bardwell, Shelburne Police Department CC: Deerfield River Archive, johnsendelbach.com RE: Summons Reports 25SHL-46-AR and 25SHL-47-AR; Show-Cause Docket 2341AC000088; HPO Hearing December 15, 2025