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Reported by us | Dighton

Four patients transported after disturbance at group home in Dighton, chiefs say

The disturbance at 5:59 p.m. Thursday drew help from neighboring agencies, including Rehoboth, Berkley and Taunton, the police chief said.

By the SC360 Breaking and Public Safety Desk | Published Oct. 30, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 30, 2026, 12:06 p.m. ET

DIGHTON Developing, updated 12:05 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. South Coast 360 News will update this story as officials release more.

Four patients were transported after a disturbance at a Whitney Academy home in Dighton on Thursday evening, Oct. 29, Fire Chief Chris Maguy said Friday. The disturbance was between residents and staff of the home, Police Chief George L. Nichols Jr. said.

Nichols put the time at 5:59 p.m. Thursday. "The residents of the home became unruly to the staff over a game of basketball and having a curfew," he wrote in an email to South Coast 360 News on Friday morning.

The situation ended up needing help from Dighton police and from neighboring agencies, including Rehoboth, Berkley and Taunton, Nichols said. He referred questions about how many people were transported to the Dighton Fire Department.

Maguy answered that question in his own email: "4 patients transported by Dighton, Rehoboth, Berkley and Brewster Taunton." Brewster Ambulance Service answers 911 calls in Taunton.

South Coast 360 News asked the Whitney Academy for comment Friday morning.

Nichols said officers went to the facility on Horton Street, NBC 10 News reported Thursday night. The station also reported, citing Dighton police, that people were taken to area hospitals, and that Dighton Fire, Rehoboth Police, Rehoboth EMS, Berkley Police and Berkley Fire assisted at the scene. ABC6 carried the same report.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

The account of the disturbance, its time, the agencies that helped and the count of patients come from emails Dighton Police Chief George L. Nichols Jr. and Fire Chief Chris Maguy sent South Coast 360 News on Friday, Oct. 30, at 10:18 and 10:17 a.m. The Horton Street location, the area hospitals and the list of departments at the scene come from NBC 10 News' Oct. 29 report, credited in the story; ABC6 carried the same report. We read them on Oct. 30 and checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Brewster Ambulance Service's Taunton coverage comes from the company's own website. The home is named as the police chief named it; the Whitney Academy's own website gives an East Freetown mailing address, so the story calls the Dighton site a Whitney Academy home and says nothing more about who runs it. No resident or staff member is named or described, and the home's house number is left out.

Corrections

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Sources (4)

  1. Dighton Police Department, Chief George L. Nichols Jr., email to South Coast 360 News, Oct. 30, 2026Sent at 10:18 a.m. in reply to our 8:09 a.m. questions: the disturbance at the Whitney Academy at 1759 hours on Oct. 29 was between residents and staff of the home; residents became unruly to the staff over a game of basketball and having a curfew; it needed help from Dighton police and neighboring agencies including Rehoboth, Berkley and Taunton; the count of people transported is a question for the fire department. The chief's full name and title as the department's own site gives them. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
  2. Dighton Fire Department, Fire Chief Chris Maguy, email to South Coast 360 News, Oct. 30, 2026Sent at 10:17 a.m. in reply to our 8:09 a.m. questions: "4 patients transported by Dighton, Rehoboth, Berkley and Brewster Taunton." Read Oct. 30, 2026.
  3. Brewster Ambulance Service, company website"Answering 911 calls for the municipalities of Braintree, Framingham, Quincy, Plymouth, Brockton, and Taunton." Read Oct. 30, 2026.
  4. NBC 10 News (WJAR), "Several taken to hospitals after fight at Dighton group home"Credited for what only the station reported: Chief Nichols said officers responded to the facility on Horton Street; people were taken to area hospitals, according to Dighton police; Dighton Fire, Rehoboth Police, Rehoboth EMS, Berkley Police and Berkley Fire assisted at the scene. ABC6 published the same report word for word (https://coastalabc.com/news/local/several-taken-to-hospitals-after-fight-at-dighton-group-home-october-29-2026). Posted Oct. 29, 2026, 8:05 p.m., updated 9:14 p.m. Read Oct. 30, 2026.

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