Articles Posted in Traffic Violations

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Happy Monday. How did you start your weekend? I hear a lot of people went shopping. At Altman & Altman, LLP., we moved our offices next door.

In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a gentleman had a high speed chase with an officer.

As usual, he did not win. He did, however, manage to injure a police officer, which successfully gained him membership into the infamous “Hey, I’ll Bet I Can Make This Worse” Club.

Of course, according to authorities, James T., 36 of Templeton (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”) had not exactly been the pillar of good judgment before the chase. There had already been a little matter of that warrant out for his arrest in connection with the robbery of the Fitchburg Savings Bank in Parkhill Plaza in April 2007.

Last Friday, police say that Detective Perry Pappas saw Defendant1 come out of a Marshall Street house around 1 p.m. and get into a black Saturn driven by a woman. The Detective followed the Saturn in an unmarked cruiser through city streets, and called for marked cruisers to help him with the arrest.

So far, so good.

Marked cruisers arrived around the intersection of Blossom and Crescent Streets. They signaled for the driver of the Saturn to stop.

That did not go over so well.

The Saturn did not stop. Instead, it drove along several more streets in the Fitchburg State College area and then hit another car at Pearl Street and Myrtle Avenue; that car, in turn, struck the cruiser driven by Police Officer Michael Rochette, police said.

The female driver of the Saturn was arrested at the scene and was taken to Leominster Hospital. Officer Rochette and three people in the car his cruiser collided with were taken to Leominster Hospital with what police said are non-life-threatening injuries.

Defendant 1, however, was not done yet.
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Sometimes it’s the opposite of a chase…!

Yesterday’s daily blog focused on police chases and attempts by defendants to get away from the scene of the alleged crime.

But in Weston, on Route 117 early Saturday morning, Joaovitor R, 18, of Watertown (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is said to have driven right into two police officers.

Literally.

Yesterday, the Defendant appeared before the court to answer various charges related to the event. Although pleading not guilty, he is being held pending a dangerousness hearing at Waltham District Court.

The event took place as Sgt. Keith Kasprzak and Officers Steve McShane and David Zampell were investigating an unrelated accident involving a pickup truck that hit a utility pole in the Conant Road area of Route 117 at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

As Officer Zampell was directing westbound traffic, a car approached him. It was allegedly the Defendant.

The car stopped within inches of the officer.

And then the driver hit the gas.
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North Attleboro, Massachusetts, had more than its fair share of attempted escapes from law enforcement last week. Two such cases graced the hallowed halls of Attleboro District Court last Friday.

One case involved some teenagers who led the police on a high-speed chase into the welcoming arms of Rhode Island. The teens, a 15-year-old girl and three lads of 17, all of Providence, (hereinafter, “Defendants 1”) ,allegedly broke into vehicles at an Attleboro movie theatre and then took off in a stolen car.

Defendants 1 then led the police on a chase on Interstate 295 at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. Once they reached Rhode Island, the North Attleboro police broke off the chase.

Home free?

Afraid not.

Three of them were returned to Massachusetts (one is trying to fight extradition) to answer charges of breaking and entering, vandalism charges and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The driver also faces traffic offenses.

You see, the North Attleboro police are not alone in the world. They have friends. Take Rhode Island law enforcement, for example. Rhode Island authorities picked up the chase, which ended on Route 7 in Smithfield, R.I., when the vehicle crashed into a brushy area off the highway.

So, other than the Massachusetts charges, they all now all face related charges in Rhode Island.

While two of the above-mentioned boys were arraigned in North Attleboro District Court last Friday, they had plenty of people to talk to. For example, there was Dennis W., 23, of North Attleboro (Hereinafter, “Defendant 2”). The police say that Defendant 2, an alleged drunk driver, struck a utility pole and drove off before calling a friend to drive his car.
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Sean G., 20, of Roslindale (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was out for a drive early Wednesday morning. Normally, that might not pose so much of a problem. However, this time was different.

You see, according to the police, the Defendant was drunk. Upon further investigation, he was apparently not even supposed to be driving the car in the first place.

However, the Defendant’s real problems began when the police took notice of the gray sedan in Holliston, Massachusetts.

According to Police Sgt. George Leurini, the Defendant was seen driving the sedan on Route 126 traveling over the posted speed limit. The Speed limit was 25 miles per hour – the Defendant was going 39 mph. Sgt. Leuini turned on his siren.

Apparently, this confused the Defendant as he neither stopped nor slowed down; he sped up. Now, instead of the 39 mph, he accelerated to 70 mph.

The police car gave chase.

Perhaps quizzical as to why 70 mph was not enough to satisfy the police, the Defendant kept accelerating until it became a high speed chase at speeds of 100 mph.
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Where do people learn such animosity?

Today’s daily blog involves two stories that have to do with dysfunctional family situations. We start with a story from Brockton, Massachusetts, where a 15-year old juvenile (hereinafter, “Juvenile Defendant”) now faces charges for an apparent “teddybearicide”.

Now a guest of the Commonwealth, at least until Thursday, Juvenile Defendant has thus far been charged with possessing an explosive device and disturbing the peace. Additional charges may be forthcoming.

It all began Monday evening when local police and the state police bomb squad responded to a 911 call reporting a potential explosive device that had been attached to a teddy bear and left on Florence Street that afternoon, a fire official said.

“It was a plastic bottle that had a solution inside the bottle that was mixed in a way that, after a period of time, it would explode,” Deputy Fire Chief George Phillips said. “A teddy bear was wrapped around the plastic bottle and it was left in the street.”

A representative from the state fire marshal’s office also responded, Phillips said.
It took authorities about 30 minutes to detonate the device with a robotic machine designed to disarm explosives, Phillips said.
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As we head into another weekend…edging ever closer to the holiday season…a reminder about one of the more common criminal justice pitfalls which people tend to experience. Namely, drunk driving.

Many cases around the subject of Operating Under the Influence have hit the press this past week. Today’s daily blog looks at three of them, all three differing in their stage of the prosecution.

First, let’s look to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, the scene of an interesting arrest scene, particularly if you are a dog lover, Tuesday. Axel, the police department K-9 dog, was called upon to help locate an alleged drunk driver at the Foxwoods Condominiums in West Yarmouth .

Bryan C., 41, of Barnstable, (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”) is said to have crashed his 2001 Monte Carlo deep into the woods off Camp Street around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Police say he then fled the scene.

Strikes one and two.

When officers arrived they found the severely damaged car, but no driver. Police were told by a witness that the lone male driver had crawled out of the vehicle, grabbed an item and ran off.

Police brought in K-9 patrol officer Peter McClelland and his partner Axel to track the suspect. They initially found an opened and cold 12 pack of beer – with four remaining cans – on the side of the road about 200 yards from the crash scene. The track continued and led to the front door of a unit at the condominium complex.

Once found, Defendant 1 told officers he was “having a bad night” and admitted to driving the vehicle.

Strike three. Out.
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Friday night was a big night for Massachusetts law enforcement in the prosecution of juvenile alcohol parties and narcotics investigations.

In Danvers, An investigator’s patience paid off as he sat back and watched an alleged drug deal, stopping the car afterwards. He found a wide variety of drugs in the car, police said yesterday.

Danvers Police Lt. Carole Germano said Detective Robert Sullivan was staking out a Newbury Street business at 10:15 p.m. Friday. “He had set up surveillance in the Motel 6 parking lot and he observed a hand-to-hand (pass) and subsequently stopped the vehicle and seized the drugs and currency,” she said.

The stash allegedly found included cocaine, heroin, Vicodin and other prescription drugs inside the car, as well as an undisclosed amount of money.

Darren L., 40, and Twyla H., 27, (hereinafter, “Defendants 1”), both of Lynn, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate a drug law, drug violation near a school or park, possession of Class A drugs to distribute, possession of Class B drugs to distribute and three counts of possession of Class C drugs to distribute.

The stop of the car was also occasioned by the driver’s alleged failure to stop at a stop sign, winning her an additional criminal charge.

Meanwhile, in Plainville, Massachusetts, thirteen youths, all under 21 years old, (hereinafter, “Defendants 2”) were having their weekend ruined. They were arrested at a party with underaged drinking Friday night, police said.
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Massachusetts just voted to change the way we handle the prosecution of possessing a small amount of marihuana. Meanwhile, alcohol still seems to be getting its share of publicity as well.

Two recent stories bring the subject of alcohol home.

No, literally….home.

For example, at approximately 4:30 a.m. this past Saturday morning, Park Street in Stoughton was the scene of a lot of excitement; a car crashed into one of its houses, causing a fire that is now said to have made the house structurally unsafe.

Donald M., 22 (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”) is said to have driven into the uninhabited home, police said, and charged with operating under the influence of liquor, operating a motor vehicle negligently so as to endanger and marked lanes violation.

Fortunately, the home had already been uninhabited.

“Why?”, you ask.

“Because a similar thing happened last year”, I answer. That’s right, the house had already sustained serious damage, including a gaping hole to its foundation, caused by a similar accident last year. Defendant 1’s accident simply added another gaping hole. And caused a fire. And pushed the safety of the structure over the edge of soundness.
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We are now announcing a special “family plan” for the “Hey, I’ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse” club we have spoken so much of in this daily blog.

Lawrence, Massachusetts. July, 2008. A 1997 Honda Civic careens into a fence on Phillips Street. Eduard M., 19, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), the driver, takes the unorthodox approach – he tells his passengers to follow him and they flee the scene. He then reports the car stolen.

It’s a good start toward individual membership. After all, what’s a simple car accident when you can have charges of leaving the scene and fraud added with very little additional effort?

Clinching this nomination, however, is the Defendant’s cousin, Jose, who then went back to the scene to retrieve his hat.

You see, Jose is a friendly guy and ended up talking about the situation with a resident of the house where the accident had occurred. He told the resident how the Defendant had been drunk, but that his auto insurance would cover damage to the fence.

Lawrence police are a friendly bunch too and one of their officers ended up engaged in the conversation with cousin Jose. So, Jose elaborated on the story. He told the officer that his cousin, the Defendant, was drunk and had a suspended driver’s license, but still insisted on driving five other people home from a party on Kendall Street. Missing a turn at Dorchester and Phillips streets, the Defendant hit the fence instead.
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Prosecutors say that they are dismissing the criminal case against Britney Spears, who was charged with driving without a valid license. The news comes after a mistrial was declared in her case on Tuesday, following a jury deadlock of 10-2 in favor of acquitting the pop star.

The case is related to a motor vehicle crash in August 2007 involving Spears and another vehicle in Los Angeles. At the time of the crash, Spears reportedly was not driving with a valid California driver’s license. She was, however, carrying a valid Louisiana driver’s license. A misdemeanor hit-and-run charge against Spears for the accident was dropped last year.

While the defense argued that Louisiana was the singer’s place of residence when the crash occurred, the prosecution argued that Spears should have been driving with a California driver’s license because Los Angeles is her permanent home. Three witnesses testified during her trial.

If Spears had been convicted of driving without a valid license in California, she would have ended up with a misdemeanor conviction and a criminal record. The penalty for the conviction is up to six months in jail, but prosecutors say that the performer would more likely have been fined and placed on probation.

Driving without a Valid License in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, you must have a valid license or permit to drive a motor vehicle in the state. If your license was revoked or suspended, then you do not have a valid license.

It is illegal for you to drive without a valid license, and you will face a criminal motor vehicle violation if you are apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

No retrial: Case against Britney Spears dismissed, AP, October 21, 2008
Judge declares mistrial in Britney Spears case, Reuters, October 21, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Chapter 90: Section 10. Operation of motor vehicle without license; members of armed forces; nonresidents; suspension or revocation of license, The General Laws of Massachusetts

Hit-and-Run Charge Against Britney Spears Dismissed, People, October 25, 2007
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles
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