The jury acquitted Mecteau of two counts of assault and battery on a police officer and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
SPRINGFIELD - A West Springfield man was sentenced to three to four years in state prison Friday after a jury found him guilty of stealing a Water Department truck from that town.
Wayne Mecteau, 34, was also found guilty of resisting arrest and sentenced to five years probation on that charge.
The jury acquitted Mecteau of two counts of assault and battery on a police officer and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew J. Shea had asked Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder for a four- to six-year state prison sentence, saying Mecteau had 25 prior convictions for breaking and entering, larceny and other crimes.
The state prison sentence will start after the 18-month sentence Mecteau is serving now for larceny of a motor vehicle.
Mecteau, who was represented by J. Brian Carney, testified he was homeless and walking in a snowstorm Feb. 10 at about 7 a.m.
He said he saw a light on in a building at the town yard on Piper Road, knocked and got no answer, and found the unlocked pickup truck with the keys on the seat.
Mecteau said he turned on the truck to get warm, then decided to drive to his ex-girlfriend’s home in the truck. He said her driveway wasn’t plowed so he went into the lot of First Niagara Bank at Westfield Street and Kings Highway.
West Springfield police officer Brian Battista testified he was in his personal truck with a plow on it because he was going to a call to help get a car out that was stuck in the snow.
He said when he saw the stolen truck, he pulled in and approached the window with his gun.
Battista said Mecteau would not comply with his order to show his hands and get out of the truck, so he ended up smashing out the window with his baton and pepper spraying Mecteau.
He said Mecteau drove a short distance in the lot almost hitting him, and continued to struggle and try to get the truck unstuck and flee. Three other officers came to the scene and Mecteau continued to fight them, Battista said.
Mecteau testified he didn’t know Battista was a police officer until late in the encounter and he wouldn’t get out of the truck because he was afraid. He denied assaulting the officers or driving a truck toward Battista.
Battista said at one point he fired four shots into the truck's tires to keep Mecteau from fleeing.
Mecteau said he was "sober" at the time he took the truck, but had shot cocaine earlier.