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Off-duty MSP trooper charged with alleged lewd conduct at Luke Bryan concert

BOSTON — An off-duty State Police trooper is accused of drunkenly exposing himself, performing lewd acts and then assaulting a man at a Luke Bryan concert at Gillette Stadium over the summer.

The trooper, identified as 32-year-old Andrew Patterson, is being charged with lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct for allegedly exposing himself and performing lewd acts while "extremely intoxicated" and subsequently starting a fight on June 21.

According to a criminal complaint, officers were dispatched to area B5 at Gillette at around 10:30 p.m. that day for a report of a fight. At the scene, troopers found a man with a bloody face, claiming an unknown man had punched him in the nose.

While the man told police he did not know the name of the man who punched him, he says the man and his friends identified themselves as State Police troopers.

The man was accompanied by his girlfriend who backed up his story. As the couple was being escorted to the First Aid station, a Wrentham police officer alerted the troopers they had stopped the other parties involved in the fight.

The couple told police the altercation started at the beginning of the concert when a group of two men and one woman were standing in the rows behind them. At one point, the man said one of the men, identified later as Patterson, was extremely intoxicated and took some of his popcorn. When his girlfriend told Patterson he was taking his food, Patterson apologized, saying he thought it was his friend's.

After some time, Patterson walked over to the seats next to the couple and allegedly made a comment to the man about how he "liked his beard" and made a comment about his body, telling him he could "sit on his lap."

The man highlighted that Patterson was intoxicated from the moment he saw him.

After several minutes, the woman said she pointed out to her boyfriend that Patterson had sat next to her, exposed himself and began performing lewd acts. She said Patterson had unzipped his pants and exposed himself.

According to the couple, the woman and man that were at the concert with Patterson then escorted their friend a few rows back. They maintain that Patterson was so intoxicated he could barely stand up.

The couple told police they had been trying to notify Gillette security through the stadium's app, but were unable to find signal. Later, the man was able to post a message to his Facebook account detailing what had happened.

During the Luke Bryan performance, the couple said Patterson made his way back to their row and began dancing behind the woman while allegedly holding his cellphone and seemingly recording himself dancing with her.

The man said he then knocked over Patterson's cellphone out of his hand, prompting Patterson to punch him in the face. When he got up, he said he threw a chair at Patterson's direction but said he did not see if the chair hit anyone since he had blood on his face.

After he threw the chair, the man said one of Patterson's friends showed him his police badge, making a comment about either he or Patterson being State Police troopers and saying that he was "in big trouble."

Police said they are reviewing a video recorded by the girlfriend about an hour before the alleged incident as well as social media posts and text messages from the couple regarding what happened.

The criminal complaint identifies the other man and woman who were with Patterson during the concert as 31-year-old Stephen Thomson and 31-year-old Rachel Patterson, Andrew Patterson's wife.

When questioned by police, Thomson and Rachel Patterson denied Andrew Patterson had exposed himself and performed lewd acts and claimed the man was the first to assault Patterson, throwing the chair at him and that Patterson punched him in self-defense.

On the day of the alleged incident, none of the involved parties pressed criminal charges against one another. In the following days, the couple maintained they did not want to pursue any charges against Patterson, where the man told police it would be "a waste of [his] time."

State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio released the following statement on behalf of the department regarding the alleged incident:

"The State Police expect and demand that members abide by Departmental rules of conduct in their professional and personal lives, thus State Police Internal Affairs this summer opened investigations into off-duty conduct violations allegedly committed by Andrew Patterson. He was suspended following a June 21 incident at Gillette Stadium; in light of today's charges, the Department will hold an internal hearing tomorrow to re-assess his duty status, and the internal investigation will continue as the criminal case proceeds. The off-duty conduct as alleged utterly contradicts the manner in which the Department demands its members conduct themselves in their personal lives."

Patterson appeared at Wrentham District Court on Thursday at a closed-door hearing, which he was summonsed in for one charge of lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct. After the hearing, the court issued a criminal complaint against Patterson on the charges.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Wrentham District Court on Nov. 8.

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