“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.

On Wednesday at about 6:10 p.m., Trooper Bryce Molnar assigned to the State Police-Northampton Barracks was patrolling Route 91 southbound when he observed a black Chevrolet Cruz with a New Hampshire registration abruptly swerve from the left lane to the right lane, narrowly missing another vehicle travelling in the right lane. Trooper Molnar activated his emergency lights and stopped the car near Exit 18 in Northampton.

As the vehicle came to a stop, Trooper Molnar observed the back passenger duck below the seat out of his view. The Trooper approached the passenger side and could see the rear passenger, later identified as, PETER GARRETT, 32 of Springfield, still leaning over with one hand positioned near a black backpack placed near his feet. Trooper Molnar asked GARRETT to step out of the vehicle in order to search the area where he was seated. GARRETT was pat frisked and seated in the rear of Trooper Molnar’s cruiser.

As a result of a search, the trooper discovered a white rock-like substance, believed to be crack cocaine, with an approximate weight of 75 grams. In addition, approximately 100 wax baggies of suspected heroin, and a total of $2,490 cash was seized from GARRETT’s person and the backpack.

GARRETT was transported to the Northampton Barracks where he was booked. A bail commissioner was contacted and set bail at $50,000. GARRETT was transported to the Hampshire County Jail where he was held until his arraignment yesterday in Northampton District Court.

GARRETT was charged with the following offenses; Drug Trafficking Class B and Possession of Class A.

On May 13, New Bedford Police Narcotics Detectives seized more than 30 grams of fentanyl during a search of 314 Coffin Ave., Apt. 5. Along with fentanyl, detectives reportedly discovered more than $1,300 and drug trafficking paraphernalia.

Brian Wayne Still, 40, 314 Coffin Ave., Apt. 5, was charged with trafficking in fentanyl. He has a prior conviction for distribution of class B (cocaine). Detective Nathan Pimental led the investigation.

Fentanyl is responsible for 93% of all overdose deaths in Massachusetts.

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.

“On Wednesday, May 13, 2020, Fairhaven Police Department notified Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers that a possible ‘for hire’ trip had left a marina in Fairhaven with clients from Connecticut aboard.

Environmental Police Officers observed the vessel return to a dock in Fairhaven at approximately 12:00 p.m. A subsequent inspection of the vessel and catch found that the Captain did not possess a valid Massachusetts DMF Charter Permit and the permit he did offer was for a different vessel.

The Captain faces numerous fishing violations and will appear in court at a later date. The 250-pound catch of scup was seized and donated to the New Bedford Salvation Army.”-Massachusetts Environmental Police.

Plymouth Fire Chief Edward Bradley and State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey are asking for the public’s help with a fire at 4 Avenue A in Plymouth. The intentionally set fire started shortly after midnight this morning.

“Anyone who saw something or someone in the area around the time of the fire or who has any information about how it started, is asked to call the confidential Arson Hotline, 1-800-682-9229,” said Chief Bradley. The Arson Hotline is part of the Arson Watch Reward Program sponsored by the property and casualty insurance companies of Massachusetts. The program provides rewards of UP TO $5,000 for information that helps to solve the case.

The fire was jointly investigated by the Plymouth Fire and Police Departments and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.