latest
From “One of the Best” to Targeted: How Fall River Police Department Weaponized a Warrant Against Ex-FRPD Officer
The Fall River Police Department (FRPD) used the criminal justice system to obtain a search warrant under questionable pretenses to uncover the identity behind a fake Facebook profile, which posted critical comments about FRPD personnel—including Detective Christopher Teves (son of Chief Kelly Furtado)—between November 17 and December 3, 2025. The FRPD also failed to return the warrant in within the legal limit of 7 days, instead turning it in over three months later, only after Fall River Reporter pushed for the warrant over a three-day period.
Social Media posts lead to a search warrant
Between November 17th and December 3rd of 2025, a Facebook user named Timmothy James (an obvious fake profile) made 11 comments over a two week period in response to posts on the Fall River Police Department Facebook page. The comments resulted in the Fall River Police Department obtaining a search warrant to find out the home address of the fake profile.
Lt. Matthew Mendes, the FRPD Commander of the office of Professional Standards, wrote up the application for search warrant and filled out the 5-page affidavit on December 3, 2025.
The FRPD claims
The search warrant states that there was probable cause to find out the details and location of Facebook user Timmothy James. The affidavit states there “is evidence of a crime or is evidence of criminal activity.” The warrant requested that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, provide “records and other information on the Timmothy James account.” To justify and support search warrant applications, the applicant of the warrant must provide a background. Officer Mendes submitted four paragraphs of experience, accolades, education and training to help justify the warrant.
For probable cause, Mendes details in general how “anonymous social media accounts can pose significant threats to law enforcement officers. Such accounts allow individuals to anonymously harass officers, disseminate false or misleading information that may interfere with active investigations , and engage in criminal behavior such as stalking, intimidation, or issuing a threat.”
Then Mendes gets specific.
“On November 17, 2025, investigators identified an anonymous Facebook.com account owner “Timothy James” that began to actively engage in targeted behavior toward an undercover Task Force Officer Detective Christopher Teves assigned to the Community Action & Suppression Team (“CAST”). The Facebook account owner has repeatedly referenced and/or named the employee on multiple Facebook posts and engaged in a pattern of harassing behavior, in which the account user has published private/identifying information with malicious intent, which has created an officer safety issue and could jeopardize ongoing investigation.” NOTE: The FRPD redacted officer Teves name.
It’s important to note again that Detective Christopher Teves is the son of Fall River Police Department Chief Kelly Furtado. “Timmothy James” posted comments about her and her son. It’s also important to note that Mendes is claiming the Facebook user “published private/identifying information.”
Let’s review the Facebook comments listed in the affidavit to justify the search warrant that is described as “willfully and maliciously targeted Detective Teves.”
“SGT Teves” is mentioned twice and “Chief’s son” is mentioned a few times in regards to “federal task force.” It’s concerning that these comments were enough to justify a criminal search warrant signed off by a senior Fall River Clerk magistrate.
First, there is no mention of a specific Massachusetts crime in the search warrant. Saying a Facebook user “willfully and maliciously targeted” a police detective “that cased emotional distress and has created a safety issue for the officer” is general and doesn’t mention a specific formal crime. In the affidavit, Mendes states that “the contents of these posts compromised the confidentiality of Detective Teves and has resulted in the officers identify being publicly exposed. The actions of the subject have jeopardized the officer’s safety and the safety of the officer’s family, who may now be at increased personal risk.” The affidavit goes on to mention that “Detective Teves is working in an undercover capacity.“
A quick Google search shows of “Fall River Police Officer Christopher Teves” shows numerous results to include articles based on a FRPD press release that specifically mentions Officer Detective Christopher Teves assigned to the Community Action & Suppression Team (CAST). It’s no secret that Christopher Teves works for the FRPD, is assigned to the CAST Team, and it’s widely known that he works for a federal agency.
For example, a Boston 25 new article dated December 31, 2024, clearly based on a Fall River press release (notice the FRPD bade in the image), states: “Fall River Police say during a follow-up investigation to an incident on Sunday in the 200 block of Ames Street, Detective Christopher Teves applied for and executed a search warrant on a residence and vehicle, along with members of the Community Action & Suppression Team.“
Fall River Reporter received a press release in November 7, 2024, just a few weeks after Kelly Furtado became interim Fall River Police Chief in October, specifically mentioning “Detective Christopher Teves along with other Detectives from the Fall River Police Community Action Suppression Team executed a search warrant at 1102 Dwelly Street, 1st Floor. Damien Brooks and Amanda Alves were the focus of the investigation.”
Search warrants are public data once they are returned back to the Clerk Magistrates office. So if officer Teves was an undercover agent as Mendes claims in the warrant, why would Teves be filling out search warrants? Why would Officer Mendes mention that Teves is an undercover agent on the search warrant mentioned in this article, knowing it will become public record? The Facebook user Timmothy James never mentioned Teves as an undercover agent, but Lt. Mendes does to obtain the search warrant. I do not believe Teves is an undercover agent and the search warrant should not have been submitted and definitely not approved.
The FRPD was so proud of the work Christopher Teves did they even posted the details on the FRPD official Facebook page mentioning his task force. Is this something police departments do with undercover agents? Or any officer they are worried about his name being public?
Other news organization like The Newport Dispatch and WBSM also reported the story.
Was there a crime? Or was the FRPD simply upset?
The search warrant was approved by Fall River Clerk Magistrate on December 3, 2025 and on December 5, the FRPD sent out an internal email explaining that they found out who it was, using the words “cowardly” and “pathetic cowardice” to describe the actions of a former FRPD officer.
This email was sent out two days after the warrant was approved, confirming the FRPD received the Facebook information on Timmothy James. My sources in the FRPD tell me that the real name was verbally revealed to FRPD police officers, in a move to tarnish the individual.
Who is Timmothy James?
During my investigation, I learned that the fake Facebook profile user Timmothy James is current Swansea Police Officer Connor Levesque who served in the FRPD from 2021 to 2023. Was Connor Levesque someone “who could not handle the professional expectations of working for the FRPD”?
I looked at an official FRPD Officer’s report dated September 12, 2022, titled “Letter of Reference for Officer Connor Levesque” written by then Sgt. Matthew Mendes – the same Matthew Mendes who wrote up the search warrant on Timmothy James. The letter is written to Captain Jay Huard and Sergeant William Falandys and Mendes recommends Levesque for an open position.
Sir,
It is with enthusiasm that I recommend Officer Connor Levesque to be considered for the current open positions in the Vice and Intelligence Unit.
I have had the pleasure of being one of Officer Levesque’s immediate supervisors for the past year and half and from the very beginning; I noted he displayed the qualities a supervisor appreciates in a police officer. Each and every shift, Officer Levesque demonstrates a high level of professionalism, discipline, initiative, and dedication toward his work. He consistently has a positive attitude and has an outstanding work ethic. He is a self-starter, and needs little to no additional attention or guidance when carrying out day-to-day tasks and self initiated investigations. For this reason, I have relied on him as one of my go-to officers, as he works well with others, demonstrates the ability to make sound fact based judgments, and is usually a person new officers go to for assistance. I have been present at numerous self initiated investigations that Officer Levesque has conducted and witnessed his ability to successfully implement search and seizure procedural law. From the very beginning of his tenure here at our agency, he has led our watch in proactive arrests and has the ability to articulate street level drug interdiction case work without guidance.
As indicated above, Officer Levesque has already assumed a leadership role amongst his peers on A-Watch and has the qualities needed to successfully succeed in an investigative unit. It is my opinion that he demonstrate the attributes and competencies that are required for the position. This individual should already be amongst those individuals and I believe he would prove to be a great investigator in the future. Officer Levesque is one of the best.
Respectfully,
Sgt. Matthew Mendes
Uniform Division / A-Watch
It’s clear, that Mendes thought highly of Levesque, stating “Officer Levesque is one of the best.“
By all available information, Officer Connor Levesque was a highly regarded police officer in the FRPD, who left to join the Massachusetts State Police, a police force with very high standards. For medical reasons, Levesque didn’t complete Massachusetts State Police training and went on to join in the Swansea PD. Before this incident, I’ve been told by a reliable source, that Levesque doesn’t have any negative disciplinary reports at the Swansea PD.
After a public information request with the Swansea Police Department, I learned Levesque was disciplined with a 3-day unpaid suspension based on these social media posts. The disciplinary report states: “On Thursday, December, 4, 2025 Lt. Jonathan Boyd received a telephone call from Lieutenant Matthew Mendes of the Fall River Police Department (FRPD). Lieutenant Mendes is assigned to the FRPD Office of Professional Standards.
Lt. Mendes advised Lt. Boyd that a Facebook profile operating under the name “Timothy James” had been posting negative comments on the FRPD Police Department’s official Facebook page. The comments from “Timothy James” did not initially raise significant concerns. However, the department’s concerns escalatedwhen the profile disclosed the name of one of their Sergeants, Christopher Teves, who is assigned as a federal Task Force Officer (TFO). Due to Sergeant Teves involvement in high-profile, confidential investigations, in an undercover capacity, the disclosure raised concerns for his safety and well-being.”
This means Facebook provided the FRPD the information they requested within one day and instead of filing criminal charges, Lt. Mendes made a phone call the Swansea PD. If the Facebook posts were serious and criminal in nature, why not push for prosecution? Also, the warrant should have been returned the Magistrate Clerk quickly to become a public record. It was not.
FRPD Breaking the 7-day warrant return rule
In Massachusetts, the rules governing the return of a search warrant (not an arrest warrant) are outlined in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 276, Section 3A. The key provision states:
Every officer to whom a warrant to search is issued shall return the same to the court by which it was issued as soon as it has been served and in any event not later than seven days from the date of issuance thereof, with a return of his doings thereon…
This means police (or the executing officer) must file the warrant’s “return” with the issuing court promptly after serving/executing the warrant (i.e., after conducting the search and noting what was done, including any items seized). Regardless of when the search occurs, the return must be filed no later than 7 days after the warrant was originally issued and approved by a judge or magistrate. The “return” includes details of the officer’s actions, such as an inventory of seized property if any was found.
For obvious reasons, open warrants are classified and not available to the public and only become public records once returned to the Clerk magistrate. It took three visits to the Clerk Magistrate’s office and several conversations with the FRPD to finally got a copy of the return which was dated 18 March, 2026 – more than three months after the December 3rd date the warrant was signed. As mentioned, Sgt. Aubin sent out the internal email on December 5th confirming the warrant was executed within days. Why was the warrant not returned the Clerk magistrate on time? Was it to keep it confidential, making it unavailable to the public? Without my persistence, I’m not sure it would have made it to the Clerk Magistrate.
Clerk Magistrate John O’Neil has not made himself available
Clerk magistrate John O’Neil signed and approved the search warrant. After three visits to his office, each time leaving my phone number, he has not called me back. Several Clerk Magistrate employees told me that they gave him my hand written note that stated I was a reporter for Fall River Reporter. His avoidance and silence is concerning. It’s also concerning that warrants can remain open for more than three months without follow up. There doesn’t seem to be a system in place to track down outstanding warrants.
Some final thoughts
It’s important to understand that no criminal charges were filed against Connor Levesque, and in my opinion, it’s because no crime was committed. Instead, the FRPD failed to return the warrant, which kept it confidential, and then used the information to punish a police officer in Swansea. One can argue Levesque’s Facebook comments were inappropriate, but it was far from criminal behavior to justify a lenthy warrant. I know for a fact several FRPD officers today post behind fake accounts.
Based on public available data and internal FRPD official documentation, Connor Levesque left the FRPD on good terms. Based on FRPD press releases and social media posts, the FRPD is not concerned about Christopher Teves name being public and involved in major drug busts. It would be hard to believe that he’s an undercover agent with his name and photos of him being so public. The FRPD went out of their way to put his name in press releases. His photo is available on the internet.
I believe Connor Levesque’s constitutional and civil rights may have been violated. He has a first amendment right to critique police departments, but it did go against Swansea PD policy. Criminal search warrants should never be used for personal or civil reasons. The public, police officers or civilians, should never be afraid to voice negative opinions about the police on their social media pages. The constitution protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures and probable cause should always be a high bar. That this search warrant was written up, submitted and approved, should concern everyone.
NOTE: I reached out to Connor Levesque for comment, but he stated that he couldn’t comment at this time. Officers Mendes and Aubin were always available when I reached out. Clerk magistrate John O’Neil still has not called me.
