Felon Arrested On Drug, Trespass, Mischief Charges In Concord

CONCORD, NH — A homeless man with priors is facing a number of charges after an incident on Horseshoe Pond Lane.

Around 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2021, officers were sent to city’s historic district after dispatch took a call about a man casing private property with a flashlight. The reporting officer arrived to find another officer, with his service revolver, pointed at a man inside of a shed, claiming he was being verbally non-compliant, an affidavit said.

Eventually, the officer wrote, the man put his hands on the shed door and was handcuffed. He was told he was not under arrest but was being detained. An officer patted him down for weapons and accused the man of being in possession of a small bag of marijuana in his sweatshirt front pouch. The man was identified as William Gordon Cavataio, 50, a homeless man now located in Concord. Dispatch told the officers he was trespassed from the property 15 days before.

The reporting officer wrote the shed door had glass window panes and one was broken. The broken glass, he said, was on the ground, appearing to be a recent break. When asked about the broken window pane, Cavataio denied involvement, the report stated. The reporting officer also said there was a large puddle of urine on the ground beneath the broken window pane, the report said.

Cavataio was arrested on criminal trespass and criminal mischief charges. After being taken to the police cruiser, he reportedly asked the officer if he could gather his items. When asked if the items were inside the shed, Cavataio said, “Yes,” the report said.

Inside the shed, the reporting officer found a cellphone with brown powdery substance on the screen. Next to the phone were two meth pipes, the officer wrote.

“Based on my training and experience, I believe either the illegal narcotic fentanyl or methamphetamine was on the phone case,” the officer wrote.

The homeowner confirmed the trespass order was active and estimated the window pane would cost about $25 to replace. She accused Cavataio of coming back to the shed even though he had been trespassed from her property, the report stated.

During processing, Cavataio admitted to consuming meth and fentanyl the night before, the affidavit stated. When asked about the powder on the cellphone, he said it was fentanyl, the affidavit said. A felony drug charge was then added to the two other charges.

When asked why he was in the shed, Cavataio claimed he was granted permission to be there, the report said. When asked about the broken window pane again, “he blamed another homeless person whose name he did not know.”

Cavataio was released on bail on Dec. 3, 2021, but failed to appear at his arraignment on Dec. 16, 2021, in Merrimack County Superior Court. He is due back in court on March 11 for arraignment.

Cavataio is a felon due to unknown convictions before 2007, including a felon in possession of a weapon charge out of Londonderry in 2007. He has an active case in Hillsborough County Superior Court. Cavataio was convicted on drug possession and criminal threatening against a person charges out of Concord in September 2018. He was found guilty on violation of probation in December 2020. He was previously charged or arrested in Concord during the past four years on criminal trespass, indecent exposure, simple assault, drug possession, disorderly conduct, criminal threatening, open container, and failure to pay court cost charges, and warrants.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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