Two-vehicle crash on Route 6 in Harwich
HARWICH - Traffic delays are reported along Route 6 in Harwich due to a traffic crash. The crash happened under the overpass at Exit 10 about 5 p.m. No injuries were repoted but vehicles were blocking the road for a time. Police are investigating.Cuff key found on inmate at HOC
BOURNE - Saying “there’s no such thing as a good escape, except the one that’s been stymied,” Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings today hailed his staff for nipping one in the bud and at the same time called on state lawmakers to give those with custody of inmates “a measure of deterrence in escape opportunities like the one we just derailed.”
But for now, says the Sheriff, “it appears our hands are tied, or should I say cuffed, insofar as the court meting out penalties goes. And what, aside from more jail time, could get an escape plotter to think twice?”
The escape opportunity came to light and was defused this week when officers at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility (BCCF) discovered a handcuff key in a thin additional pocket stitched alongside an inmate’s regular pants’ pocket. The search was triggered by an alert midnight-shift lieutenant, working in tandem with the jail’s special operations unit.
The small key’s fit was so snug inside the narrow extra pocket that it didn’t move and would have been difficult to detect; and as with most cuff keys, it fit almost all handcuff models – including those used by the Sheriff’s deputies when they escort inmates to court.
The jeans belonged to a beefy, 300-pound inmate who would have been changing into them for future court appearances. The 23-year-old Boston native and Dennisport resident was sentenced in April to six months for assault and battery. He was jobless when he arrived at BCCF two months ago. (Sheriff Department spokeperson Roy Lyons says the state's Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) act prohibits identified the inmate)
“All staff,” the Sheriff began an email also read at daily roll call, “Thanks to outstanding work by officers in Special Operations and on the midnight shift, a handcuff key was found today in the property room, secreted in an inmate’s street clothing. Such an item going undetected could have resulted in serious injury to BCCF staff or court personal. It was a job well done by all involved.”
The Sheriff’s “measure of deterrence” reference, meanwhile, was to a bill sponsored by House minority leader Bradley Jones, a Republican state representative from North Reading. Right now, there is no specific law prohibiting inmates from doing what this one did.
But Jones wants to change that. If his bill (House 2830) becomes law, any inmate in possession of a cuff key would face a year in a jail or a house of correction. “I run both,” Sheriff Cummings pointed out, referring to BCCF, “so I intend, forthwith, to alert the Minority Leader to our near miss here in Barnstable County.”
The bill was relegated to a “study” in the last legislative session, but the Sheriff, Jones, and the bill’s co-sponsors hope for a better fate this time around. In the meantime and in the absence of Jones’s specific measure, the Sheriff’s Office is checking to see if the inmate can be charged under an existing statute. Said the Sheriff: “It’s worth looking into, so we will.”
Media release furnished by Barnstable Sheriff's Office
Road closed after minivan strikes pole
SOUTH DENNIS – Around 1:45 p.m. Thursday the driver of a Honda Odyssey minivan traveling south on Airline Road lost control of the vehicle, which struck and snapped of a utility pole. The pole came to rest across the road blocking both lanes of travel. There were two people onboard, one of whom was transported to Cape Cod Hospital by Dennis Fire Rescue with injuries that were apparently not life threatening.
Power was shut off in the area while Nstar crews worked to replace the pole. Airline Road was closed in both directions.
Dennis Police are investigating the crash.
Story and photos by Kevin Morley/CWN
Two plead guilty in Falmouth shootings
FALMOUTH - Two people have pleaded guilty in connection with two shootings in Falmouth last December. Mariah Domingues, 25, and Jamison Desrosiers, 21, were both charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (5 counts), malicious destruction of property over $250 (2 counts) and conspriacy (2 counts). The charges stem from separate incidents in East Falmouth, including one at the Reine property. No one was hit by the bullets. Desrosiers reportedly fired the shots to scare subjects at both locations. Domingues repotedly drove the getaway car and wiped down the bullets. Under the plea deal, Desrosiers was sentenced to 3-4 years in prison while Domingues was sentenced to 5 years probation. Both must make restitution for the damaged property.
Home invasion in Hyannis
HYANNIS - Barnstable Police are charging one man in connection with a Hyannis home invasion last night, and are seeking another man. At approximately 10:35 p.m., Barnstable Police Officers responded to Nautical Road in Hyannis for a reported masked and armed home invasion. The victims, a 66 year old man and his 26 year old daughter, told officers that 2 males wearing masks had knocked on their door and forced their way into the house while pointing handguns at them. The suspects allegedly went through every room in the house looking for cash and marijuana. Another item taken was a family heirloom; silver notes from the early 1900’s. Two hours later Barnstable Police Officers responded to the Seaside Pub in Hyannis for report of a male party, Marcel Young, attempting to pay with counterfeit money. Upon arrival officers were able to determine that the counterfeit money was actually the silver notes that had been taken in the home invasion just hours before. Mr. Young’s physical description and clothing description also matched that of one of the suspects reported by the victims.
Mr. Young, 35, was taken into custody and booked at the Barnstable Police Headquarters for masked/armed home invasion, and robbery while armed and while masked. Mr. Young, who has a lenghty record, was arraigned on these charges at Barnstable District Court on Thursday. The alleged home invasion victims were not injured and police say it was not a random attack.
Media release and mugshot furnished by Barnstable Police
Pair nabbed on drug charges in Hyannis
HYANNIS - On Wednesday at approximately 3:30 p.m., Barnstable Police Narcotic Detectives, assisted by the Barnstable Street Crimes Unit (SCU), executed a search warrant at 12 Spring Street in Hyannis. The search warrant was the result of a two month long investigation by narcotics detectives for cocaine and heroin sold out of the residence by Carrie Turner and Justin Saunders.Upon executing the search warrant, Justin Saunders fled into the back room of the home, but was secured shortly thereafter by detectives. Carrie Turner was secured without incident. A subsequent search of the residence yielded two small bags of heroin, a suboxone, narcotics distribution packaging material, and approximately $730.00 in US Currency.
24-year-old Justin Saunders (left) was arrested and charged with Possession of a Class A Substance (Heroin) with Intent to Distribute Subsequent offense and Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substance Laws. Saunders has a lengthy criminal history involving drug distribution and trafficking charges.
30-year-old Carrie Turner (right) was charged with Possession of a Class A Substance (Heroin) with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Class B Substance (Suboxone), and Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substance Laws. Turner is scheduled to appear in court in December regarding a drug raid on her home at 12 Spring St. in April of 2012 in which she was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class B Substance (Crack Cocaine).
Both suspects were being held at the Barnstable Police Facility pending arraignment in Barnstable District Court on Thursday.
Media release and mugshots furnished by Barnstable Police
Inmates help clean up homeless camps
HYANNIS - Barnstable House of Corrections inmates helped with a recent cleanup of homeless camps in Hyannis.
Load it in – Two inmates from the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne toss a tattered tarp into this Dumpster parked along Old Colony Road in Hyannis. The pair were joined by four other inmates and crew supervisor Lt. Joe Brait as they worked to clean up 14 small homeless campsites. All were located in woods near Old Colony and Old Yarmouth Roads, off Hyannis Center. The inmates were joined by town DPW workers, one of them making relatively short work of the project thanks to a Bobcat.
Coming through! – That very Bobcat rambles through narrow, wooded trails leading to the constellation of small encampments, until now occupied sporadically by some of the area’s homeless. A similar day-long operation, overseen by Barnstable PD, has been mounted for going on ten years. It removes the makeshift camps shortly after Thanksgiving, as the wintry months descend on Cape Cod. “If we don’t clear these out,” says lieutenant and officer-in-charge David Cameron, “some of these people will keep returning to them. Sooner or later, the elements are going to get them.”
HYANNIS - Barnstable House of Corrections inmates helped with a recent cleanup of homeless camps in Hyannis.
Load it in – Two inmates from the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne toss a tattered tarp into this Dumpster parked along Old Colony Road in Hyannis. The pair were joined by four other inmates and crew supervisor Lt. Joe Brait as they worked to clean up 14 small homeless campsites. All were located in woods near Old Colony and Old Yarmouth Roads, off Hyannis Center. The inmates were joined by town DPW workers, one of them making relatively short work of the project thanks to a Bobcat.
Coming through! – That very Bobcat rambles through narrow, wooded trails leading to the constellation of small encampments, until now occupied sporadically by some of the area’s homeless. A similar day-long operation, overseen by Barnstable PD, has been mounted for going on ten years. It removes the makeshift camps shortly after Thanksgiving, as the wintry months descend on Cape Cod. “If we don’t clear these out,” says lieutenant and officer-in-charge David Cameron, “some of these people will keep returning to them. Sooner or later, the elements are going to get them.”
Trash collectors for a day – Inmate crew chief Brait (back to camera) supervises the dismantling of one campsite located in the woods next to Pope Paul II High School. Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald, who stopped by to see how things were going, agreed with Lt. Cameron that the crux of the matter is the wellbeing of people who shouldn’t be spending winter nights outside on Cape Cod. The danger of exposure is obvious, the chief explains, given the squalid conditions that permeate the camps.
Jaws of rubbish – Our Bobcat is back, having just scooped some campsite debris into this same portable Dumpster pictured earlier. “No one wants to live like this,” says Chief MacDonald, referring to what had become makeshift homes for roughly 25 area transients. They were given 10-days’ notice of the upcoming operation, reducing the likelihood that items of value would be left behind. One exception would be three abandoned bicycles. Also left were two duffle bags, seen here at the feet of Barnstable Patrolman Kevin Fullam – contents for now unknown.
Media release and photos furnished by Barnstable Sheriff's Office
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