Police and Fire News

Over six hundred run the YPD-5K Sunday

Fifteen Yarmouth police officers run for a reason

YARMOUTH - Yesterday, 610 people participated in the 5th annual YPD  Blue 5K - Run for a Reason. Of the 610 runners and walkers, fifteen were Yarmouth police officers.

The 5K race which begins at Skipper Restaurant off Route 28 in South Yarmouth, was held on a perfect Cape Cod day. 

Each year, for the past several years, the race is held during the week of Peace Officers Memorial Day. This year, Chief Michael P. Maloney of the Greenland, NH was honored. Chief Maloney, a 26-year veteran of the police force, was killed in the line of duty last month.

The YPD Blue 5K is run in remembrance of fallen officers and their families.  Proceeds from the race benefit the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Yarmouth Police Relief Association.

This year's fastest male police officer was National Park Service Police Ranger Jay Kolodzwski with a time of 17:23. The fastest female police officer was YPD Officer Diana Wells with a time of 25.15.  The fastest male firefighter was New Bedford FD Firefighter Angel Martin with a time of 18:27.

The following Yarmouth police officers participated in the race on Sunday:

• Patrol Officer Matthew Sheehan 23:18
• Patrol Officer Justin Haire 23:36
• Reserve Police Officer Matthew Rossi 23:36
• Patrol Officer Louis Nickinello 24:34
• Patrol Officer Paul Mellett 24:59
• Patrol Officer Diana Wells 25:15
• Patrol Officer Richard Aprea 25:31
• Patrol Officer George Tsoukalas 26:54
• Patrol Officer Nicholas Giammarco 27:22
• Detective Gordon Gibbons 29:12
• Patrol Officer Michael Wells 30:39
• Deputy Chief Steven Xiarhos 30:31
• Patrol Officer Mark Noone 30:45
• Reserve Police Officer Alan Delaney 38:56
• Patrol Sergeant John Fallon 38:59

Editor's note: Photographs supplied by the Yarmouth police have been removed per the request of the Cape Cod Times.

Third teen arrested in East Wareham home invasion

Faces similar charges two first two suspects including two counts of aggravated rape

WAREHAM - Wareham have arrested a third suspect in the home invasion that took place just after midnight Thursday.  According to Lt. Kevin Walsh, 17-year-old Justin Gomes Jr. of 294 Main Street in Wareham was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Thursday night at his apartment.

Gomes is the third of three teens suspected in a Dana Lane home invasion in which two females and one male victim were assaulted and money and jewelry were stolen. The two female victims were also sexually assaulted, according to police.

Thursday, police rounded up the two original suspects, 18-year-old Robert Brown Jr. of Onset and 18-year-old Kendrick Williams of 7 Water Street in Wareham during two different traffic stops. After arresting Williams and Brown, police said they were still searching for one or two more suspects.

Armed with a search warrant Thursday night, police checked Gomes' apartment and found evidence related to the home invasion. Evidence was also found earlier at Williams' home on Water Street.

The three teens were held at the Wareham Police Department without bail until their arraignments on Friday in Wareham Fourth District Court.

Each suspect has been charged with armed home invasion, two counts aggravated rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, destruction of property over $250, assault in a dwelling while armed and possession of a firearm without an FID.  Brown was also charged with trafficking a Class B substance (Percocet) as a result of his traffic stop. 

Read the original story here.

Cotuit mother arrested for drunk driving with 4-year-old daughter in car Thursday

Child was in back seat--no seat belt, no car seat at time of arrest

Sarah Stewart. BPD booking photo.OSTERVILLE - A 34-year-old Cotuit woman is in custody after allegedly driving drunk with her 4-year-old daughter in the car.  According to a Barnstable police release, officers responded the report of an erratic driver on Route 28 in Osterville around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Patrol Officer Matthew Bulman responded and located the reported vehicle headed towards Mashpee. Officer Bulman pulled the driver over when she crossed the fog line and almost completely left the road.

According to Officer Bulman, the driver, Sarah Stewart, attempted to exit the car while it was still in drive. Stewart's 4-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car when she was pulled over. The child was not in a car seat and was not wearing a seat belt at the time, police said.

Stewart is alleged to have fallen against the car and the cruiser while attempting the field sobriety tests. She was placed under arrest and transported to the Barnstable Police Station where she was charged with OUI, child endangerment while under the influence, marked lanes violations, child under 5 without a car seat and child endangerment, wanton or reckless behavior creating risk to a child.

The 4-year-old was also taken to the Barnstable Police Station and later picked up by her father, police said.

Stewart was arraigned in Barnstable District Court Friday.

Two Mass Maritime cadets, one other injured in Bourne hit and run; driver fails sobriety test

Rhode Island driver arrested, failed sobriety test, taken away in handcuffs

   An alleged hit and run driver is given a field sobriety test following a crash that injured three.

Rescue crew places MMA Cadet into waiting ambulance.
A pedestrian was also rushed to the hospital. BUZZARDS BAY - Three people were injured, including two Massachusetts Maritime cadets, after being struck by a car in Bourne early Friday morning. 

The victims were struck by a hit and run driver on Academy Drive at the entrance to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy around 1:30 a.m.

According to fire officials and emergency broadcast reports, two of victims are students at the academy.  A female cadet was transported to a Boston area hospital.  The two other victims were transported to area hospitals.

A half hour after the hit and run, Bourne and Wareham police located the alleged driver and his car on Main Street in Buzzards Bay.

Officers administered a field sobriety test and the unidentified driver was handcuffed and transported to the police station.

The car involved in the hit and run is registered in Rhode Island.

The condition of the victims is unknown.

Video, photos and report by David G. Curran.

Falmouth teen injured in fall from moving truck in Mashpee Thursday

MedFlight team transports her to Providence Hospital

MASHPEE - An East Falmouth teenager fell off a truck shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday on Ladys Slipper Lane off of Old Barnstable Road in Mashpee, according to Mashpee Fire Capt. Kevin Long.

She reportedly suffered head trauma in the fall from the moving truck. The teen was flown to Providence Hospital by a MedFlight crew.

We will update the story as information is received.

Video by David G. Curran.

Two charged with aggravated rape after Wareham home invasion

Two suspects arrested, caught during separate car stops

   Left to right: Robert Brown Jr. and Kendrick Williams, both 18-years-old, both charged with aggravated rape. WPD booking photos.

WAREHAM - Two 18-year-old Wareham men are in custody and face home invasion and rape charges after an incident that occurred just after midnight Thursday morning. According to a Wareham police release, officers and detectives responded to 14 Dana Lane in East Wareham after a reported home invasion.

Two adult females and one adult male were reportedly assaulted and robbed at gunpoint by three to four masked male suspects, according to police. The victims told police the men forcibly entered the home stealing an undetermined amount of cash and jewelry.

The two women were also sexually assaulted, according to Lt. Kevin Walsh.

No suspects were found during an immediate search of the area.  Roughly twelve hours later, officers conducting two separate motor vehicle stops arrested two of the suspects, 18-year-old Robert Brown Jr. of Onset and 18-year-old Kendrick Williams of 7 Water Street in Wareham.  Brown was arrested for trafficking and possession of a Class B substance (Percocet) and Williams was arrested for his involvement in the Dana Lane home invasion. Both were also charged with two counts of aggravated rape and Brown was charged with the home invasion in addition to the drug charges.

Following his arrest, officers obtained a search warrant for Williams' home at 7 Water Street. There, according to Lt. Walsh, officers recovered evidence from the home invasion.

The incident remains under investigation by Wareham detectives.

Backhoe busts gas line in Great Island section of Yarmouth

Firefighters, utility crews quickly control and fix leak

   Yarmouth firefighters at the scene of a Great Island gas leak. YFD photo.

The broken line. YFD photo.

WEST YARMOUTH - Monday afternoon around 1:20 p.m., Yarmouth firefighters were called to 31 Moss Road in the Great Island section of West Yarmouth for a gas break.

The line broke when it was struck by a backhoe during excavation work near a new three-story home.

According to Capt. Talbot, it was a routine gas line rupture. Off-duty fire personnel  were called in to respond to medical emergencies while on-duty crews dealt with the gas line break.

National Grid workers responded to the scene quickly and secured the gas at the street, according to Capt. Inspector Sawyer.

Pilot makes emergency landing on Lover's Lake in Chatham Saturday

Engine quits, pilot lands on Lover's Lake near Chatham airport

  In the photo above the tail of the plane can be seen above water 20 feet from the backyard of a private home in Chatham. Rescuers surrounded the plane with Hazmat mitigation floats to contain any fuel and oil spill until plans can be made to remove the plane.

A Chatham lake may be misnamed for those two fly-boys

CHATHAM - Two men escaped from a small plane after encountering engine trouble and crashing into the water on Lover's Lake off Lakeshore Drive in Chatham around 2:40 p.m. Saturday, according to Chatham police.

Police said the two people on board the single-engine Cessna 182, a 25-year-old pilot and a 57-year-old passenger, were uninjured and swam to the shore of a private home on Lake Shore Drive.

The plane had taken off from Chatham Municipal Airport and was on its way back when the emergency landing occurred, police said.

The private plane landed right-side up in Lover's Lake just north of the landing strip.  Witnesses reported hearing the aircraft's engine sputtering, then seeing the pilot make a controlled landing on the lake, according to police.

Chatham Fire & Rescue deployed Hazmat mitigation floats to contain fuel from the plane.

FAA investigators were expected to arrive last evening to assist Chatham police with an investigation.

Video below and photo above by David Curran.

Cape's K9s put on an impressive show Saturday

Handlers show an enthusiastic crowd in Yarmouth Port what K9 dogs can do

Story, all photos by Maggie Kulbokas

YARMOUTH PORT - Saturday afternoon, Taylor-Bray Farm in Yarmouth Port was the setting for a  fun and interactive K9 demonstration presented by the Cape's police K9 handlers and their dogs. 

Barnstable K9 Officer Troy Perry and his dog Izzo.The officers represented the Dennis, Yarmouth, Barnstable and Mashpee Police Departments as well as the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office. The crowd of over a hundred, including several enthusiastic youngsters, got a crash course in K9 police work.  Dogs of several different breeds are trained as drug detection dogs or patrol dogs and some are even cross-trained.

Drug dogs are trained to sniff out narcotics in cars and buildings and on people. Patrol dogs are trained for a variety of jobs including tracking missing children or adults, finding criminals, crowd control and criminal apprehension.

K9 training has evolved through the years. Dogs were once trained with play rewards, but are now trained with food rewards--an excellent incentive for a job well done.  The officers told the crowd that the dogs are constantly trained by their handlers. Even at regular meal times, the dogs are being trained and hand fed.

During the presentations, handlers showed the crowd how dogs can find narcotics on a car and on a person in a lineup. Then the dogs were used to apprehend criminals, first with a muzzle on, used to detain and corral the bad guy. Then without a muzzle and a protective "bite suit" for the pretend bad guy--a job the dog can really sink its teeth into.

For more information about your town's K9 program, contact your police department. To learn more about K9 dogs and specifically retired K9 dogs, visit the Cape and Islands Police K9 Fund. The folks from the fund were at the demonstration today taking donations for this very worthy cause and handing out Junior K9 Officer badges to the kids.

Dennis police arrested Level 2 sex offender for failure to register

Police take George Jones into custody Friday

NORTH DENNIS - Around 8:30 a.m. Friday morning, Dennis police  arrested 37-year-old George Jones for failing to register as a sex offender. According to Sgt. Cleve Daniels, Jones is a Level 2 sex offender who was found to be residing at 86 South Yarmouth Road in North Dennis.

Following an investigation conducted by Det. Sgt. Mark Conant, an arrest warrant was issued for Jones. 

Officers found Jones hiding in the South Yarmouth Road home Friday morning, according to a Dennis police release.

George Jones was transported to the Dennis Police Station where he was processed then taken to Orleans District Court for arraignment Friday.

According to the state's Registered Sex Offender Board (SORB), there are currently 29 registered Level 2 sex offenders and four Level 3 sex offenders registered in Dennis. Level 3 sex offenders are designated as those most likely to re-offend.