State Police Apprehend Maine Fugitive at Goose Pond

Print Story | Email Story

State and local police and K9 Emma travel on Goose Pond.
BECKET, Mass. — State and local police apprehended a fugitive from Maine on Tuesday who had fled to a cabin on Goose Pond after wrecking his vehicle.
 
Diego Martinez, 30, of Sabattus, Maine, was arrested on extraditable warrants for his failure to appear in court on illegal drug and firearm possession offenses, as well as for criminal motor vehicle offenses.
 
At approximately 7 a.m. Tuesday, troopers from the Lee and Westfield barracks responded to numerous calls reporting a single-vehicle crash on Route 90 eastbound in Becket. 
 
Witnesses reported that a man exited the vehicle after crashing and fled the scene on foot. Martinez was identified as the likely operator of the crashed vehicle. 
 
Troopers immediately enlisted the assistance of the State Police K9 Unit and Air Wing, state Environmental Police, Becket Police and a K9, and Lee Police in order to search the area.
 
Law enforcement teams scouted the woods for several miles on Tuesday.
 
At approximately 12:30 p.m., troopers received information that Martinez may have been in the area of Goose Pond, at which point numerous troopers and officers converged on the area.
 
Becket Police Chief Kristopher McDonough transported troopers and MSP K9 Emma on a boat to the area while numerous other troopers and officers walked along trails in order to approach from multiple angles.
 
At approximately 8:30 p.m., they converged on a cabin at Goose Pond. Members of the search team observed the suspect on the front porch of the cabin. K9 Trooper Norman Stanikmas, Emma's handler, issued warnings that Emma would be deployed to apprehend the suspect if he did not surrender, while he and other troopers and local police officers advanced toward the porch 
 
Martinez surrendered without incident and was placed into custody. He was transported by boat to a state police cruiser and transported to the Lee barracks for booking. He was ordered to be held without bail pending his appearance at Southern Berkshire District Court in North Adams. He is expected to be extradited to Maine. where he will be brought before a judge for the aforementioned warrants.
 
Multiagency cooperation was instrumental in placing Martinez under arrest.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Community Leaders Read to Kids at St. Mary's School

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Participants in Read Across America Day at St. Mary's included community, business and spiritual leaders and a local author. 

LEE, Mass. In conjunction with Read Across America, St. Mary's School is starting its big reading challenge.

"For every 10 minutes a kiddo reads they get a coin that goes into a big bin. At the end of the month, they will get either an ice cream party for whoever reads the most or a pizza party, something like that," said Principal Cara Maiorana-Culver. "March is literacy month and literacy is so important to schools and something that doesn't get enough emphasis."

Third-grade teacher Amanda Reis invited Town Administrator Christopher Brittain, Police Chief Craig DeSantis, Stacy Simms from Lee Bank, Loren Nazarov from Lee Library, the Rev. Brian McGrath, local author Michelle Cuevas, and state Rep. Leigh Davis to come and read to classrooms Monday.

The community leaders spoke to different grades and read a book of their choice or had conversations about what the books meant or about the leaders' work.

Leigh Davis spoke to Grades 6-8 about what she does and read the book "The Dreaming Tree," the story of a young girl advocating for a tree to not be cut down in her neighborhood, saying anyone can raise their voice for what they believe in.

"Being a role model in the community you live in is so important and I hope that I can provide that and one of the topics were talking about is how can you advocate for yourself how can you advocate for your community, for your school, for your town, for your district and the power that you have within you to make a difference so that is something that I really tried to get across to the students," Davis said. 

The newly elected representative for the Third District brought up topics like road conditions, bridge maintenance, and animal rights. Davis told the students about how she became a representative and asked what they would like to be when they are older. 

Seventh-grade student Eva Sinopoli thinks it was important for Davis to speak to her class about her job and the different things they can do to help and that they have a voice.

"I think it's really important because some people like whether it be us in school feeling like we don't really have a voice because of our age being younger than others but it's a really important thing to bring up because some people think there are things that need to be spoken up for and you might not have that happen unless you speak up yourself," she said.

"I think that was helpful that if you believe in something you should be passionate trying to change something for better in your community," said eighth-grader Gus Gleason.

Seventh grader Sophie Sparks said Davis was nice and that it was cool to be able to meet a representative and that she encouraged them to follow their dreams.

"If there's any issues or if there is something that you want to be fixed and follow your dreams see what you want to be," she said.

DeSantis spoke to kindergarteners and read them "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie." He said he likes community engagement and interacting with kids at all the schools. 

"It's a great way for different people and kids to interact with different professions and different people in our community, community leaders, and it's a chance for the kids to interact," he said. "And on a personal level with law enforcement anytime we get to go in and interact with kids in a positive way like this is a win I love to do it and it gives them a chance to see us as normal people so that they feel comfortable and be able to start building those relationships."

"I liked when he talked about when the mouse was drinking the milk and when he was eating the cookie and then I liked him when he was reading," said kindergartener Natalee Sedelow. 

View Full Story

More South Berkshire Stories