Employee with Outstanding Warrant Kidnaps Boss: Part I.

Back in 2007, Chris Palermo of Pittsburg, NH, a tiny town on the northern most part of New Hampshire was arrested after he kidnapped his boss. According to police reports, the employee Palermo forced his boss to drive him all the way to a train station in downtown Boston. According to the kidnapped boss, once at the train station, the suspect (his employee) forced his boss to purchase a train ticket so that he, Palermo, could escape outstanding arrest warrants. Palermo told his boss that he knew where his father lived, and threatened to cause harm to him if he did not cooperate. The suspect reportedly said that he had hurt other people in the past. Palermo was arrested and charged with Kidnapping, Unlawfully Carrying a Dangerous Weapon, and Several Outstanding Warrants from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Incredibly, Palermo, after being arrested in Boston, phoned in bomb threats from his Jail Cell in downtown Boston, which led to widespread panic and the evacuations of two New Hampshire police stations, a courthouse, and his place of employment, Moose Alley Auto. Police were also tipped off that several automobiles could be booby-trapped with explosives, specifically, the vehicles at his place of employment, Moose Alley Auto, owned by his now ex-boss. This was first reported by WBZ in Boston.

Palermo, whose prior employment was in Gloucester Massachusetts as a fisherman, was charged during the previous autumn with stealing property in Lebanon, New Hampshire and was also wanted in Grafton County, New Hampshire for violating probation. Additionally, he had warrants for his arrest for failing to appear in court on numerous Assault and Battery cases in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is in Essex County. Gloucester is the seaport where the fishing boat the Andrea Gail embarked on its tragic journey during the Perfect Storm of 1991, the tragic disaster was turned into a book in 1997 by Sebastian Junger and then Hollywood adapted it into a movie in 2000 starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

The “Perfect Storm” is also a cliché used in the workplace when an employee who did not undergo a criminal background check is unmasked, and disaster awaits like a ticking time bomb, a workplace violence incident is just one potential consequence when one ignores the past of a new hire. No doubt, a “Perfect Storm” was in the making with this fugitive from justice.

As reported at that time by the New Hampshire Union Leader:

The man whose bomb threats prompted a massive police response was sentenced to serve up to 7 years in the New Hampshire state prison.

Christopher Palermo, 30, of Pittsburg, NH was convicted on three counts of false reporting of explosives after a trial in Coos County Superior Court. At his sentencing hearing, Judge Timothy Vaughn sentenced Palermo to serve 3 1/2 to 7 years on all charges, with two of the charges suspended for 10 years.

Palermo was brought to trial after he called in bomb threats at the Pittsburg Police Department, the Colebrook District Court and a Pittsburg business where Palermo was formerly employed.

The threats prompted a massive response effort, including 39 state troopers from as far away as barracks in Tamworth and Concord, New Hampshire, as well as Fish and Game conservation officers, local police and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Coos County Attorney Keith Clouatre said it was clear from the evidence presented at trial that Palermo “intended to frighten three separate locations with his false report and the crimes should be treated separately.”

Clouatre asked that Palermo receive a 3 1/2- to 7-year sentence on one charge, a suspended 3 1/2- to 7-year sentence on another, and a 1- to 3-year sentence on the third.

Public defender Kirk Williams urged a lighter sentence with a time-served sentence.

“I am willing to believe Mr. Palermo’s plea for drug counseling was legitimate, and I hope he receives some,” Clouatre said. “However, the chaos and sheer waste of manpower that he caused clearly calls for a prison sentence.”

Palermo was also sentenced to 2 to 5 years on a probation violation of a burglary charge out of Grafton County, New Hampshire when he committed these offenses.

This outrageous, yet this true story points out the importance of performing criminal background checks on prospective employees before you hire them. Palermo’s former boss and unfortunate victim in this melee who was kidnapped could have prevented his ordeal by running a criminal background check on Palermo. Had he run a criminal background check, he would have discovered that Palermo had numerous criminal record convictions, as well as several outstanding warrants for his arrest, and accordingly, the employee, Palermo, would have never been hired.

To be Continued…