On May 21, New Bedford police officers conducted a traffic stop near the corner of Austin and Purchase streets. As a result, officers seized more than 18 grams of crack cocaine and $2,255.

25-year old Trent Boston of 189 Rockland Street is charged with trafficking cocaine and driving with a suspended license. Boston currently has open cases in New Bedford District Court for distribution of class A, B, and D. 

If you have any information on criminal activity in your community, the New Bedford Police Dept. wants to hear from you. You can leave an anonymous tip on our voicemail at (508) 991-6300 Ext. 1.

In an ongoing effort to address community complaints and quality of life concerns relative to off-road vehicles including dirt bikes, mopeds and motor scooters being driven around the city in a reckless and irresponsible manner, members of the BPD’s Auto Theft Unit assisted by units from various districts throughout the city recently arrested 18 individuals and confiscated 30 off road vehicles.

At about 11:30 AM on Friday, May 8, 2020, officers assigned to the B-3 (Mattapan) Auto Investigations Unit responded to a radio call to assist another unit with a traffic stop of a motorized dirt bike in the area of 842 Morton Street in Dorchester. On arrival, officers observed an individual operating the dirt bike in the parking lot of a gas station in the area before parking it on the sidewalk. Officers conducted a query of the dirt bike, which was later determined to be a Yamaha RT off-road motorcycle, and discovered it to be unregistered with the Massachusetts Environmental Police. The dirt bike was confiscated and the operator was issued a Massachusetts Uniform Citation.

At about 7:45 PM on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, officers assigned to the Auto Theft Unit made an onsite arrest and recovered illegal dirt bikes in the area of 52 Hecla Street in Dorchester. While on patrol in the area of Park Street in Dorchester, officers observed two individuals operating dirt bikes without their helmets. Officers further observed the individuals going through red lights, weaving in and out of traffic, and traveling on the wrong side of the road all while operating at a speed greater than reasonable. Officers observed multiple vehicles move out of the way due to the operators’ unpredictable movements. The operators were observed lifting the front wheel of the dirt bikes and weaving from side to side on Adams Street before quickly turning onto Hecla Street where they brought the dirt bikes to the rear of a residence on the street. One of the males hurriedly entered the residence while officers were able to take the second male into custody. The other male was identified and issued a citation. Officers impounded the two dirt bikes as well as a moped which were located in the rear of the residence on Hecla Street.

Officers arrested a 26-year-old male of Mattapan who was charged with Disorderly Conduct, Operating a Recreational Vehicle to Endanger, Unlicensed Operation, Operating a Recreational Vehicle on Public Property, Helmet Violation, Negligent and Reckless Operation of a Recreational Vehicle, Speeding, Uninsured Motor Vehicle, and Marked Lane Violation.

At about 5:30 PM on Thursday, May 14, 2020, officers assigned to the Auto Theft Unit made an onsite arrest and recovered an illegal dirt bike in the area of Magazine Street and Dudley Street in Roxbury. While on patrol in the area of Massachusetts Ave and Norfolk Street in Roxbury, officers observed two individuals standing next to a yellow dirt bike in the parking lot of the U-Haul at the above intersection. One of the males entered a white SUV and the second male exited the lot on the dirt bike alongside the white SUV, travelling on Mass Ave. The operator of the dirt bike, who was not wearing a helmet, stopped in the area of Magazine Street and Dudley Street where officers quickly exited their cruisers and approached. The operator of the dirt bike was issued a summons to appear in Roxbury District Court on charges of Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Unregistered Motor Vehicle on a Public Way, Helmet Violation, and Operating a Recreational Vehicle on a Public Way. The dirt bike was confiscated and towed from the scene. While officers were speaking with the operator of the dirt bike a white SUV approached. A query led to the discovery that the operator had an active straight warrant out of Wrentham District Court for Receiving Stolen Property, Identity Fraud, Larceny Over $1200, Uttering a False Check. The 29-year-old male of Jamaica Plain was taken into custody.

At about 7:49 PM on Friday, May 15, 2020, officers assigned to the B-3 (Mattapan) Auto Investigations Unit responded to a radio call to assist another unit with a vehicle investigation in the area of 8 Elwyn Road in Dorchester. On arrival, officers observed a male in the rear of the aforementioned location revving the engine of a yellow dirt bike. The male fled the residence as officers continued their investigation, locating the yellow dirt bike, as well as two additional dirt bikes and a moped from the rear of the residence. All four of the recreational vehicles were towed from the scene.

Community members with information relative to the storage of these recreational vehicles who wish to assist in these investigations anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to assist this investigation in an anonymous manner.

A former resident of New Bedford was resentenced today in federal court for a 2013 armed bank robbery.

David A. Frates, 41, was resentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 84 months in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $1,098. Frates was originally sentenced in July 2016 to 11 years in prison after he was classified as a career offender. In 2018, Frates’s classification as a career offender was vacated by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and he was ordered resentenced.

On Sept. 24, 2013, Frates, who was masked and armed with what appeared to be a semi-automatic firearm, entered a branch of the St. Anne’s Credit Union in New Bedford. Once inside, Frates approached a teller, pointed the firearm at the teller and demanded the bank’s money. The teller complied with Frates demands and he exited the bank. The bank’s surveillance cameras and witness interviews identified Frates as a possible suspect. On Oct. 1, 2013, law enforcement recovered items involved in the robbery, including a black BB gun. Frates was later located and arrested for the robbery.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

On May 19, New Bedford police officers arrested three people and seized more than 25 grams of fentanyl, 18 grams of crack cocaine, $1,007, and drug paraphernalia.

Police officers executed a search warrant at 128 Sycamore St., Apt. 2, and seized 20 bags of fentanyl weighing more than 25 grams, a digital scale, packaging materials and $895.

Juan Rivera Montilla, 25, was charged with trafficking, conspiracy, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Nathaneal Navarro-Ayala, 40, 128 Sycamore St., Apt. #2 was charged with trafficking and conspiracy. Detective Timothy Soares led the investigation.

Also that day, Detectives seized more than 18 grams of crack cocaine and $112 after witnessing what appeared to be a street-level drug transaction on Hathaway St. near Madeira Ave. Erique R. Monteiro, 33, 71 S. 6th St. was arrested and charged with distribution, trafficking, and conspiracy.

Detective Nathan Pimental and Detective Kevin Barbosa led the arrests.

If you have any information on criminal activity in 2our community, the New Bedford Police Dept. wants to hear from you. You can leave an anonymous tip on our voicemail at (508) 991-6300 Ext. 1.

“On Saturday, May 16, 2020, Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to a residence in Somerset to a report of someone disturbing a pair of Canada Geese and their nest.

Upon arrival, the individual admitted to chasing off a pair of Geese with a garden hose and then destroying their nest. The individual was cited for violations of Massachusetts General Law 131 Section 74.

The Canada Goose is the only species of goose that breeds in Massachusetts. The species thrives in both residential and suburban areas – and given their population growth, they can also become nuisance.

However, taking, disturbing, or destroying the nest and/or eggs of Canada Geese is illegal. For information on how to deal with Canada Geese and to avoid or solve problems with them, please visit .”-Massachusetts Environmental Police.

“On the evening of Monday, May 18, 2020, Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers conducted a plain-clothed enforcement patrol along the Boston waterfront.

Officers encountered several individuals engaged in fishing, ultimately observing numerous striped bass fishing violations, to include: possession limit violations, minimum size violations, and illegal possession of river herring violations.

In total, the Officers issued nearly $2,500 in fines and seized 15 illegally caught striped bass. The seized catch was properly stored overnight and will be donated to the Pine Street Inn, a homeless service shelter in Boston.”-Massachusetts Environmental Police.

Chris Van Buskirk
State House News Service

The ACLU of Massachusetts and the law firm Foley Hoag sued the Bristol County sheriff’s office Monday in an attempt to obtain information surrounding a violent altercation between officers and detainees at the Bristol County House of Correction in early May.

The civil liberties organization filed a public records request on May 7 seeking audiovisual recordings, reports, and other records linked to the May 1 incident, according to a press release from the group. The statement said the sheriff’s office issued a “blanket denial” of the request.

“The public deserves to know what happened in Bristol County’s immigration detention facility,” Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said. “That is especially true when the leader of that government institution has been accused of personal misconduct during the incident, and given ongoing controversy about potentially unsafe conditions there. This oversight should be a foundation upon which we hold sheriffs accountable to the job voters elect them to do, namely preserving public safety.”

The ACLU of Massachusetts has previously called for an independent investigation into the altercation between correction officers and immigrant detainees. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has said the incident began when a group of about 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees refused to be moved for COVID-19 testing, rushed Hodgson and corrections officers, and damaged equipment and walls in the facility.

Three detainees were taken to the hospital at the time, and some of the prisoners have accused Hodgson of assault.

A spokesperson for the Bristol County Sheriff’s Department said the denial of ACLU’s public records request was based on two exemptions in the public records law related to “investigatory material” and documents concerning internal layout and security measures, among other things. The matter remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, the spokesperson said.

“Disclosure of video and/or photographs of the interior of the secure facility would be akin to releasing the internal layout of the facility, which the statute expressly forbids. Releasing interior videos and/or photographs would jeopardize the operational security required to maintain the effective, safe, and secure operation of the jail,” the department wrote in an emailed response to ACLU, which was provided to the News Service. “It would provide the BCSO’s tactical and strategic ‘playbook’ for responding to emergency situations and inmate/detainee disturbances, which would compromise the BSCO’s ability to respond in a timely, effective and safe manner.”

A Senate Committee announced an investigation into the altercation earlier this month. The Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee has said its review will focus on both the incident and why a state lawmaker, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, was not permitted to enter the facility the day after.

“Massachusetts Environmental Police found an individual in Swansea with 250-pounds of live horseshoe crab in their vessel.

Further investigation found that the individual did not possess a valid permit or letter of acknowledgment to catch horseshoe crabs. The individual was charged for commercially fishing without a permit and for numerous safety violations.

All crabs were found to be alive and were safely returned to the waters of the Commonwealth.”-Massachusetts Environmental Police.

A Rhode Island man was sentenced May 13 in federal court in Boston for his role in a fentanyl and carfentanil distribution conspiracy.

Robert Soucy, 26, of Providence, R.I., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 16 months in prison and six years of supervised release. In February 2020, Soucy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 10 grams or more of acetyl fentanyl, and carfentanil.

On May 2, 2019, Soucy delivered fentanyl and heroin to an undercover officer. A subsequent test confirmed that the white powder Soucy claimed was fentanyl actually contained .32 grams of carfentanil and that the brown powder Soucy claimed was heroin was actually .4 grams of fentanyl. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times more potent than heroin.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the annoucement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Graber of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

On May 14, New Bedford police officers arrested a 22-year old man after they report witnessing him violently stab a man near 83 Washington Street.

Detectives noticed a man exit a stopped vehicle in the roadway and approach a man on the sidewalk. The suspect then returned to his vehicle and fled while detectives approached the scene. They discover the victim with bleeding wounds in his abdomen, alerting officers that a weapon was most used. The victim was transported to the hospital.

Soon after, the vehicle was located and stopped by detectives near Hall and Rivet streets. The driver, 22-year old Taurus Lamar Veal, Jr. of New Bedford, was arrested and later charged for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Chief Joseph Cordeiro commended all Officers involved for their exceptional teamwork and quickly making an arrest. “Together, our officers reacted with speed and professionalism as they responded to the victim and quickly located the suspect’s vehicle before making the arrest.”

If you have any information on criminal activity in your community, the New Bedford Police Dept. wants to hear from you. You can leave an anonymous tip on our voicemail at (508) 991-6300 Ext. 1.