Dedham police officer arrested in connection with Avon kidnapping case

DEDHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A police officer was arrested in Dedham Wednesday in connection with a kidnapping case out of Avon.

Officer Michael Schoener is charged with accessory before the fact and kidnapping, because prosecutors say he provided the tools to allow a kidnapping to be carried out almost perfectly. The case he was allegedly a part of involved 37-year-old James Robertson was snatched from his Avon home earlier this year, on New Year's day, by two men posing as police.

They said they were taking Robertson, who was on probation, to be drug tested. Robertson obliged and willingly got in a silver Toyota Camry. That was the last time he was seen or heard from.

He's now presumed dead.

Scott Morrison, 46, and Alfred Ricci, 45, were later arrested and charged with the kidnapping. A third man, James Feeney, was named the mastermind behind it. That brings us to the defendant in Norfolk Superior Court Wednesday, Schoener who is a Dedham police officer.

Prosecutors say Schoener and Feeney know each other and that the police officer bought pills from Feeney for at least the last year. And in December, Feeney allegedly asked Schoener to do him a favor.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland said, "Mr. Feeney requested of the defendant to use his badge, his handcuffs an empty holster as well as obtaining a board of probation record of the victim James Robertson as well as obtaining a license picture of James Robertson. These items were provided to James Feeney three days before the kidnapping."

"He has one instance on his record, an OUI from 1998, got a continuation without a finding. He was summonsed into court, he did appear on his own your honor," Daniel Silverman, defense attorney, said.

Because of his near-clean record and the fact that he turned himself in, the defense asked that the judge go easy on him.

Bail was set at $5,000 and Schoener is being monitored by GPS tracking device. The Dedham Police Chief released a brief statement Wednesday acknowledging the arrest and saying Schoener has been placed on leave while the investigation is underway.

At Robertson's home, his parents say their son knew Feeney too, but had no dealings with him. They were in the courtroom as Schoener was arraigned Wednesday, and say that was hard. Not because it was a police officer charged in connection with the kidnapping or because it was a fourth suspect that was charged, but because their presence in the courtroom reinforced the reality for them their son is really gone.

Cox Media Group