CEO Arrested for Assault
SALEM, N.H., Oct. 22, 2009 -- StockerYale CEO Mark W. Blodgett was arrested Oct. 13 for allegedly assaulting the company's former research and development manager, an act police say was caught on tape by security cameras in the parking lot.

The assault allegedly occurred Oct. 9, when Blodgett, who is 6-foot-6, chased the 5-foot-2 Dr. Wei Xu into the StockerYale parking lot. According to an affidavit filed by the arresting officer on the case and reported in the New Hampshire Business Review (NHBR), Xu told police that he was getting ready to leave his vehicle when Blodgett opened the driver's side door, pulled him out, hit him in the face and tried to choke him. Police told NHBR that Xu also claimed that Blodgett tried to toss his car keys on the roof of a nearby building.

"Xu advised me that Blodgett hit him in the face with his hand," Detective Juan Valerio wrote in an affidavit and quoted in a story posted by local newspaper Eagle Tribune on its Web site. "Xu also stated Blodgett put his arms around his neck as he tried choking him."

The officer wrote that he observed a red mark on Xu's neck. After going to police headquarters to make a statement, Xu was later transported to Holy Family Hospital in nearby Methuen, Mass., treated for minor injuries and then released, NHBR said. Police said they have footage recorded by security cameras of the incident.

Blodgett was charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1000, NHBR reported. He was released without bail, pending arraignment next month.

The arrest came the same day that StockerYale signed a deal to sell its North American operations to California-based laser maker Coherent Inc. for $15 million in cash and the assumption of some of its operating liabilities (See StockerYale Sells to Coherent). StockerYale's Salem operations make specialty optical fiber, while its Montreal base manufactures laser modules. The company kept its LED systems and custom laser modules businesses in England and Ireland.

As for a motive for the assault, NHBR said unnamed sources told the paper that Xu -- who was in the process of leaving the company -- refused to sign a noncompete clause, which could impact on the Coherent sale. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the deal included an agreement from StockerYale that it will not compete with the purchased businesses for five years.

Xu was a founding technical member of StockerYale, and played a leading role in developing and manufacturing various specialty optical fibers since 2001, according to a November 2007 publication of the New Hampshire section of technical society IEEE. Xu was instrumental in developing photosensitive fiber and radiation-resistant fiber, as well as polarization-maintaining, rare earth doped, microstructured and other fibers for telecommunications, medical, defense and industrial sensing applications.