MV homicide, OUI charges levied after woman run over by truck


ORLEANS - At 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, officers of the Orleans Police Department responded to a single motor vehicle accident on Finlay Road. Arriving officers discovered a female in the roadway with extensive bodily injuries. Further along, officers identified a white GMC parked on the side of the road, with the passenger door open. The victim was transported to Cape Cod Hospital.

Witnesses at the scene stated that they observed the white GMC pickup truck travelling at a slow rate of speed, when the passenger door opened and the female fell from the truck. The rear wheel of the truck then struck the victim.

The driver of the vehicle, Dennis Maskell, 69, of Orleans (right) was arrested at the scene and charged with Operating under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation. Shortly after, Cape Cod Hospital advised Orleans Investigators that the victim, Diane Cole, 47, of Orleans, had succumbed to her injuries sustained from the incident. Maskell’s charges were upgraded to Motor Vehicle Homicide, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Maskell was released on bail for an appearance in Orleans District Court Monday.

Investigators are presently piecing together the events leading up to the incident, including any and all locations the couple may have visited prior to the event. At this point it appears that Maskell and Ms. Cole are acquaintances.

Additional information will be released once the investigation is concluded. Assisting in the investigation are officers from the Barnstable County Sherriff’s office (BCI), and Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office.
Media release and mugshot furnished by Orleans Police; scene photos by Jake O'Callaghan/CWN

Man killed in car vs bridge on Route 6 in Harwich
Afternoon commute snarled as traffic detoured off highway


HARWICH - A major crash completely closed Route 6 between exits 9 and 10. The crash happened around 4:30 p.m., when a vintage 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo struck the Cape Cod Rail Trail bike path bridge near Exit 10. Rescuers had to extricate the driver, 50-year-old Gary L. Ayre of Plymouth, from the wreckage. MedFlight could not respond due to weather so Ayre was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A State Police crash reconstruction team is investigating the crash. As of 7 p.m., The highway was fully reopened but residual delays were possible for a time. We'll bring you further details as we get them.
Photos by Jake O'Callaghan/CWN

Four arrested in separate overnight incidents in Yarmouth
YARMOUTH - Yarmouth Police made four significant arrests overnight. Two were for narcotics violation, two for drunk driving.
On Friday at 1:52 a.m. Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Nicholas Giammarco observed a truck, with major front end damage, speeding at 60 mph on Station Avenue and conducted a motor vehicle stop that subsequently led to the arrest of Jacob N. Goodwin, 31, for OUI-Liquor, Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident, Speeding, and Defective Equipment. Goodwin is scheduled for arraignment today in the Barnstable District Court.




On Friday at 1 a.m., Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Michael Wells stopped a motor vehicle on Route 28 and after administering a series of Standard Field Sobriety Test arrested Susannah Joly, 25, for OUI Alcohol per se .08 and an Expired Safety Inspection Sticker. Joly is scheduled for arraignment today in the Barnstable District Court.





On Thursday at 8:00 p.m., members of the Massachusetts State Police Cape Cod Drug Task Force and the Yarmouth Police Department executed a search warrant at 17 Thatcher Road in South Yarmouth that seized $2,200 in US currency and drug distribution related equipment. The suspect, Kenneth Trenholm, was placed under arrest and subsequently transported to Yarmouth Police Headquarters. At midnight, the same members of the Massachusetts State Police Cape Cod Drug Task Force and a team of Yarmouth, Brewster, Harwich and Chatham Police officers, as well as members of the Barnstable County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant at a Hyannis hotel room, which uncovered 7 grams of heroin and $1,000 in US currency. All of the items seized are connected to Trenholm, who was out on bail for two pending drug distribution cases, and he is scheduled to be arraigned in the Barnstable District Court Friday morning for Felony Possession with Intent to Distribute Class B Drugs - Suboxone and Felony Possession with Intent to Distribute Class A Drugs - Heroin

On Thursday at 6 p.m., members of the Barnstable and Yarmouth Police Department Detective Division Drug Enforcement Units led by Barnstable Police Detective Mark Butler and Yarmouth Police Detective Christopher Kent executed a search warrant at 30 Sea View Avenue in South Yarmouth, which resulted in the seizure of arrest of $1,150 in cash, a bag of hypodermic needles, and a clear plastic bag with four glassine bottles inside labeled black Wolf Testosteron Enhancate liquid anabolic steroids totaling 800 mgs. Subsequent to the execution of the search warrant, Myles Reid was arrested and transported to Yarmouth Police Department headquarters where he was booked and processed. He is due to be arraigned in the Barnstable District Court Friday for Felony Possession of a Class E Substance - Anabolic Steroids.
Media release and mugshots furnished by Yarmouth Police

Massachusetts police officers getting standardized IDs

EASTHAM - The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs are today unveiling a new credential being carried by the police officers of Massachusetts. The new ID cards are of uniform design and utilize features that thwart tampering and counterfeiting. To their knowledge, Massachusetts is the first state in the U.S. to implement a statewide system of secure police credentials.

Massachusetts law requires that every city and town issue identification cards to its full-time police officers, who are required to carry the card and exhibit it upon lawful request. However, there has never before been a standard for the design of the card leaving police departments to come up with their own. Additionally, most police ID cards had no security elements so counterfeit cards could conceivably be made using off-the-shelf printers and software.

The lack of uniform, secure credentials posed several security and public safety problems. Security personnel at courthouses and other protected buildings had no streamlined way to validate identification shown by police officers carrying firearms, and citizens had no way of authenticating whether a person stopping them or demanding to be let into their home was actually a police officer. It is not uncommon for people to commit crimes by posing as police officers. Police departments actually began issuing the new credentials last year but MCOPA did not announce the program until now. Police chiefs did not want to draw attention to a security vulnerability until it had been corrected. To date, cards have been issued to 13,000 police officers statewide.

The cards are ordered and manufactured using a secure system. The vendor is MorphoTrust USA Inc., headquartered in Billerica, MA, which provides identity solutions and services in all 50 states and D.C., including Massachusetts. The company provides complete solutions for government-issued IDs, such as driver licenses and passports, as well as for border management, public safety, law enforcement, aviation, retail, banking and employee/applicant vetting. “MorphoTrust is pleased to partner with the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs on this innovative credentialing program. Through their leadership and cooperation, they have put together a program that exemplifies MorphoTrust’s mission and is truly a national model” said Bob Eckel, CEO of MorphoTrust.

Some of the security features of the new ID are covert, and known only to the police, while others are overt. Perhaps the most significant security feature, and the one already familiar to Massachusetts drivers, is the Kinegram®, an Optical Variable Device used on the commonwealth’s drivers’ license. The colors and images of the device change as the card is rotated. If a citizen sees a police ID that does not have a Kinegram® like the one on their own license, the card has not been issued as part of the program. Permission to use the Massachusetts Kinegram® was granted by Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian. The cards have a tamper-resistant laminate and other overt security features include overlapping data and a ghost image in the lower right corner. Each card is serial numbered so that a lost or stolen card can be entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).

The back of every card attests that the bearer is a law enforcement officer as defined by federal law. Since 2004, law enforcement officers have been empowered to carry firearms outside their own state provided that they carry photo identification issued by their departments.

The cost of the first card issued to each police officer is paid using federal homeland security funding. Cards for new officers and officers who have been promoted cost $9.50 each. Because the cards are produced centrally by MorphoTrust USA, police departments do not need to purchase cameras, card stock, laminate, or printer materials. Previously, such systems cost departments $2,000 to $3,000 each.

Citizens who want to learn more about the new Massachusetts police ID card can visit a website, MassPoliceID.com. The website shows what an authentic ID should look like, explains the card’s security features and has a video about the cards. The site also contains a printable flyer for security screeners at venues where the carrying of firearms by civilians is prohibited. The website, MassPoliceID.com, was generously donated by Boston Web Designers, a division of MBA Team, Inc.

Chief Joseph J. Rebello of the Kingston Police Department, president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said, “Our commonwealth’s police chiefs have afforded our citizens a reliable means to determine whether a person presenting police identification is authentic. This is in keeping with our mission to keep the public safe.”
Media release and image furnished by Mass. Chiefs of Police Association via Eastham Police and has been authorized for public distribution

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