The State Police Association of Massachusetts
[Memorial to Fallen Officers]

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By Sgt. Bob Leverone

A walk in the woods near the Blue Hills became a real adventure for a young Randolph woman and her dog when darkness descended a bit more quickly than anticipated.
Entering the woods near dusk, they were quickly overcome by darkness and could not find there way out of the labyrinthine maze of trails. They were reported missing near the end of the eve shift and troopers from the Milton Barracks as well as the K9 unit quickly responded.
Tprs. John Tasker and Tim Blackwell entered the woods with their K9 partners and searched the area where she was most likely to have entered. In the meantime, a perimeter had been set up by several troopers including, Eric Papkee, Brian Quigley and Joe Durning.
Tpr. Gary Mozuch interviewed the woman’s brother, the last person to see her, and developed further information as to where she might be. Shortly thereafter, Tpr. Papkee radioed that he had located the woman deep in the woods on his perimeter post near Ponkapaug Pond. She and her dog were returned home a short time later to a grateful family.

Tpr. Dave Nimms stopped a pickup truck on Rte. 128 in Needham from which a man with several warrants fled. A perimeter was quickly set up with officers from the state, Needham, Westwood and Dedham police departments.
Meanwhile, rubberneckers on Rte. 128 began to ball up traffic and you just knew there was going to be at least one driver not paying attention to detail. Well, that’s just what happened when a woman panicked after seeing traffic stopped ahead and rolled her car over into the median.
The driver, who was sans seatbelt, was ejected like a rag doll and sustained serious injuries.
Tpr. Marty Igielski had to leave his perimeter post to respond to the crash. Upon arrival he was met by the fire department and EMTs who had to snake their way through the stalled traffic, much of which was in the breakdown lane.
The victim was taken to a local hospital and Marty’s investigation revealed she indeed didn’t see the traffic slow down in front of her and she panicked, lost control and crashed.
The man who fled Tpr. Nimms’ stop was never located and it’s believed he was able to exploit the gap created in the perimeter by the crash. The man’s identity was discovered through investigation and at last word, the state police were planning a visit to his home at zero dark thirty-hours.

Tpr. Vincent Noe made a motor vehicle stop for a missing front license plate on Morton St. in Murderpan when he noticed the picture on the RMV screen of his laptop did not match the man driving.
While measuring the tint on the car windows, Tpr. Noe engaged the man in conversation, gaining further evidence that the driver was not who he claimed to be. The trooper then ordered the man to exit the car at which time he put it in gear and floored it.
Vincent returned to his cruiser and gave chase down the winding side streets of the area, something we are now forbidden to do with the new neutered pursuit policy.
Unable to shake Tpr. Noe and his bluebird, the driver bailed out of his moving car on McLeelan Street. The trooper gave chase on foot through back yards and over fences until slicing his hand open on top of a chain link fence and jamming his wrist. He gave a good description of the man over the radio and returned to his cruiser.
While searching the area in his cruiser and nursing a large gash to his hand, Tpr. Noe received a radio call that Boston PD had the suspect on York Street. He positively identified the man who was transported to SP Milton by Boston Officers Bickerton and Heggie.
Back at H7, Officer Bickerton noticed the man’s cell phone was not operating and stated the new trend is for drug users to secret drugs in the battery compartment of the phone. This proved to be the case as a small bag of cocaine was located in the phone after consent.
A short time later, the man stated he had been using drugs all day and was now feeling sick. He was taken via ambulance to Quincy Medical Center under the watchful eye of Tpr. Patrick Burke.
Back at “The Hills,” Tpr. Keith Pantezelos and his K9 partner Rocky checked the defendant’s vehicle. The dog hit on another inoperable cell phone which was also found to contain cocaine.
The defendant was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, failure to stop for a police officer and a number of other motor vehicle violations.

Tpr. Noe was at it again on a recent eve shift when he stopped a vehicle on I-93 in Quincy for having no tail lights. During conversation with the driver, the trooper clearly observed a clear baggie of marijuana in the driver’s shirt pocket. Oops!
The man was removed from the car and another baggie was located in his pants pocket. The bracelets went on and the man was secured in the back of the cruiser. A further check of the vehicle revealed two more fat baggies of dope in a knapsack on the back seat.
Back at H7, the young man admitted he had just purchased the drugs in Hyde Park with the intent of selling them. In all four bags were located. Two contained one half ounce, one had a full ounce while another had a pound of the weed. He was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and motor vehicle offenses.

Out in the Haunted Forest, Tpr. Chris Booth was running radar on I-95 northbound in Attleboro when a pickup truck passed by at 111 miles per hour. Chris took off after the scofflaw and hit the blue lights once he was close enough to ID the vehicle.
The driver of the truck continued to march precipitating a perfunctory (look it up) blast from the siren. The driver failed to stop and the chase was on at speeds continuing over 100 miles per hour.
The truck weaved in and out of traffic, up the breakdown lane and across all lanes until taking the exit 5 ramp in North Attleboro. All the while, Chris stayed glued to the guy’s bumper. Realizing he wasn’t going to shake the determined trooper, the driver stopped at the top of the ramp.
The driver was ordered out of the truck and the passenger was ordered to place his hands on the dash and not move. Out of the truck spilled the drunken driver who was quickly placed in cuffs and secured in the cruiser.
The passenger explained he was an unwilling passenger and pleaded with the driver to stop. He appeared quite shaken by the entire incident.

Two recent Jimmy Buffet shows at Gillette Stadium brought huge crowds and a large police response in an effort to deter the type of violence that occurred during the previous country and western show. Over 140 troopers worked the shows which saw the type of parking lot debauchery legends are made of.
Officers on traffic posts were kept busy by clueless concert goers, some of which couldn’t understand why they couldn’t make U-turns in four lanes of stalled traffic.
Members of SERT and the K9 unit were kept busy in the lots keeping a lid on things and dealing with thousands of highly intoxicated people.
The first show went off relatively smoothly. There were few problems and minimal arrests. One incident saw two dopes try to break into a pickup truck in lot P-10. Along came two off-duty deputy sheriffs who attended the show. They asked what the men were up to. They said they were just getting their sister’s stuff from the truck. Unfortunately for them, the truck belonged to one of the deputies. Both men were, ahem, “detained” by the deputies until they were arrested by Tpr. Paul Conneely.
The second show saw a different crowd; younger and rowdier. Several fights occurred in parking lot P-10. Most were the result of a wild bachelor party in the bus lot where the future groom and buddies tuned up several people in a large donnybrook.
Unbeknownst to them, a bus load of Boston cops were nearby and were able to ID all the assailants for the bevy to troopers which responded. Several arrests were made and several people were treated by EMS and at least one went to the hospital. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd continued to party knowing full well that “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Dispatchers at the Troop H Communications Section took several calls of a highly erratic driver on Rte. 495 in Mansfield to which Tpr. Joe Evans responded. Joe located the vehicle in question parked in the breakdown lane. He was then informed the registered owner had a long and violent history involving armed robberies.
Joe approached the car and knocked on the window to get the driver’s attention. It must have worked because the driver took a look at Joe and hit the gas. Joined by Tpr. Bill Apgar, the pair pursued the suspect in a harrowing chase up the highway.
They were finally able to get the vehicle to stop and ordered the driver out. He refused and kept his hands hidden from view despite orders to show them. The man was removed from the car at gunpoint at which time a violent struggle ensued before the troopers were able to subdue and hand cuff the suspect.
A check of the suspect’s car revealed a small amount of heroin and associated paraphernalia for its use. The suspect was transported to SP Foxboro and charged with a slew of motor vehicle violations, resisting arrest, possession of heroin, etc. Never underestimate a simple erratic driver call.

Tpr. James Morris was in route to a PAID DETAIL on I-93 in Milton when he heard a radio broadcast from Quincy PD alerting area departments to a blue pickup truck wanted in an armed robbery.
Moments later, another radio message indicated that a Quincy cruiser was now behind the suspect vehicle just ahead of the trooper.
James caught up to the pair and soon found himself the primary cruiser in what started as a local chase. You can’t do that anymore according to the new policy.
Did any tell the locals yet?
Anyways, they chased the bad guy up the highway. All the while, he’s tossing evidence out the window before exiting at Freeport Street in Dorchester where he gets hung up at a red light.
The suspect exited the truck and just casually tried to walk away. He was ordered to the ground by Tpr. Morris and the Quincy officer. He basically told them to pound sand and the fight was on in the middle of the road.
They were soon joined by Lt. Keith Blaney of the gang unit before they were able to finally subdue the suspect who was summonsed on the state police charges and transported to Quincy PD on the armed robbery charges.
This was a nice cooperative effort by state and local police to bring a dangerous felon into custody. Remember, the trooper was on his way to a PAID DETAIL. Let’s see a flag man do that! Nice work!

A routine stop for an inspection sticker violation netted Tpr. T.J. Hannon a “two’fer” on a recent eve shift. Tpr. Hannon stopped an Oldsmobile for the sticker violation on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester when he saw the passenger doing the dance of the hidden treasure.
While speaking with the driver, the trooper noticed the guy was very nervous. When asked why, the driver fessed up to having heroin in the car. Upon arrival of Tprs. Derek Baran and Dan Herman, the two muffs were removed from the car.
While searching the vehicle, the passenger ran down the embankment and jumped into the harbor and attempted to swim away. He was soon convinced it was a foolhardy plan and he swam back into a pair of waiting handcuffs.
Heroin and its associated accoutrements were seized from the vehicle and both men were arrested and taken to SP South Boston and booked on drug charges.

Illegal gun play in the streets of Boston is an extremely serious problem. Anytime we as police officers can get a gun off the streets, it’s a sure bet we have saved a life.
Tpr. Mike Cherven was working a mid shift on Geneva Avenue, a very high crime area, when he stopped a Nissan Altima for a broken tail light. Mike was soon joined by Tpr. TJ Hannon for this one.
During conversation with the driver, both troopers saw several marijuana roaches in the ashtray. Upon stating their observations, the driver leaned toward the floor on the front passenger side of the Nissan. He was ordered to stop and exit the car.
Tpr. Cherven attempted to speak to the man while Tpr. Hannon searched the car. The man kept nervously looking over Mike’s shoulder at what TJ was doing. He tried to walk past the trooper to get at his car a couple times before both troopers placed him into handcuffs.
Tpr. Cherven returned to the car and located a loaded revolver in the glove box. The suspect was taken to SP South Boston and booked on drug and weapons charges. All that came from a simple broken tail light.

A recent spate of people impersonating police officers and assaulting victims had an off duty female Boston officer on edge when a blue Crown Victoria began to tailgate her on Day Boulevard in South Boston. She contacted the South Boston Barracks and Tpr. Brian Sullivan dispatched a trooper to the scene.
Upon meeting with the officer, Tpr. Joe Durning got the story and soon spotted the would-be cop standing next to his “cruiser” in the parking lot at Tinian Beach. He was positively identified by the off duty officer as the man who tailed her and tried to pull her over.
With help from Tpr. Scott Cooper, Joe spoke to the man who denied everything. One thing was for sure; he had been drinking. Obvious signs of intoxication were noted and field sobriety tests ensued. The tests were failed and the subject was arrested without incident.
On the way back to the barracks, the man became increasingly uncooperative and agitated. While being booked he refused to cooperate and stated he wanted to die. When the troopers un-cuffed him to place him in a cell, the subject began to punch and kick violently at the troopers, injuring both before they were able to subdue their assailant and force him into a cell.
The subject was charged with impersonating a police officer, OUI-alcohol, A&B on a police officer and more.

There is no doubt a trooper’s job is a dangerous one. When we get hurt on the job, some argue, “It’s what you signed up for.” I don’t recall any of us signing up to get slammed from behind in the breakdown lane by a drunk driver going eighty miles per hour, but that’s what happened to Tpr. Mark Lombardi on Rte. 24 a few weeks ago.
Mark was in his cruiser, booking a previous crash, when he was hit from behind. The impact knocked him unconscious, broke a rib and caused several other injuries.
The drunk driver sustained a broken hip, broken arm and broken fingers. He also incurred a number of legal troubles he’ll have to deal with upon his release from the hospital. He was charged with OUI-serious injury, endangering, speeding and marked lanes.

Cruiser 206 aftermath	Tpr. Brian Sullivan of CSS takes photo of Cruiser 206 after it was struck from behind in the breakdown lane by an alcohol impaired driver	Tpr. Paul Chastenay of CSS marks the spot of evidence at the crash involving Cruiser 206

I’m happy to say the fire suppression system in the newer cruisers worked like a charm. The gas tank was ruptured and the fuel failed to ignite, due in large part to the protective system that spewed its fire retardant contents all over the place.