A 24-year-old man from Northbridge learned the hard way that winter fun can turn into winter trouble after he was arrested on Saturday following what police described as “the most avoidable chain of bad decisions we’ve seen this season.”
Witnesses say Tyler Briggs began by tossing snowballs at passing cars outside his apartment complex during the season’s first big snowfall. At first, drivers laughed it off — until one snowball hit the side of a police cruiser with what officers called “Olympic-level accuracy.”
The cruiser stopped immediately.
Instead of apologising, Tyler reportedly threw another snowball, claiming later that he was “already committed to the bit.”
Officers told him to knock it off. Tyler responded by packing a much larger snowball “just to show what he was capable of,” according to a neighbour.
At that point, officers stepped out of the vehicle to speak with him, but Tyler — in what he described as “a playful vibe, wrong place wrong time” — lobbed the snowball directly at one officer’s vest.
It didn’t help that it was partially ice.
The officers then attempted to detain him, and Tyler panicked, slipping on the snow, trying to waddle away in boots with zero traction. After about eight seconds of the least-threatening chase imaginable, officers placed him in handcuffs.
He was arrested for disturbing the peace and refusing to comply with lawful orders.
Neighbours watched the whole thing unfold, with one resident saying, “He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. He just has the impulse control of a toddler with unlimited sugar.”
Tyler was released later that evening with a warning and a $150 fine.
Asked for comment, he told reporters:
“Next time I’ll just build a snowman.”
