CRIME & SAFETY

This week in Chicopee, Massachusetts, there were three notable incidents. Two men were shot in a car and drove themselves to the hospital after gunshots were reported at an intersection. A 13-year-old boy went missing from Dupont Middle School, but was later located. Additionally, a Chicopee man was sentenced to prison in Vermont for unlawful possession of a firearm while using a controlled substance.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Traffic on 91 North was at a standstill Friday afternoon after a traffic stop took a dramatic turn. A Massachusetts state trooper was dragged on the road by a car. According to State police, the trooper was trying to stop the driver for traffic violations at a nearby rest stop.

SPRINGFIELD — A class action lawsuit filed by a Westfield police officer in district court alleging the city of Westfield failed to pay weekly wages and overtime to its officers was moved to superior court last week. In June, Westfield Police Officer Jason Perron filed a lawsuit in Westfield...

SPRINGFIELD — Eleven days before her seventeenth birthday, Tangela Clark gave birth to her first child, a daughter she named Tamara. “I was young when I had her, but I wanted to protect her and to give her the tools she needed to have a good life,” Clark said. “And she did.”

In the small town of Chicopee, Massachusetts, a 20-year-old man, Christopher Morgan, finds himself sentenced to a year and a day in prison following unlawful possession of a firearm while being addicted to controlled substances. As reported by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont yesterday, Morgan...

The Springfield Fire Department was sent to an intersection in Springfield for a car accident on Saturday.

There were several incidents in West Springfield, Massachusetts this week that raised concerns about safety. These incidents included brawls breaking out at the Big E fair, fights leading to arrests, a credit card theft, accidental 911 calls at the fairgrounds, and a tractor-trailer fire on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

In a significant development in the Holyoke murder investigation, the suspect, 22-year-old Aleq Rodriguez, was arrested in Puerto Rico earlier this week. He is accused of murdering Edgar Soto-Irizarry on June 22. Rodriguez’s arrest is the culmination of a months-long manhunt led by several law enforcement agencies within the United States and Puerto Rico.

K9 Odin of the Enfield Police Department helped with locating a missing elderly person who had left their house on Saturday on foot.

Jayson Johnson, 25, and Sequanne Madden, 19, both residing in Queens, New York, were arrested in Holyoke, Massachusetts. They were charged with organized retail theft from a local Stop and Shop on Northampton Street. These two individuals allegedly stole more than $5,000 worth of health and beauty items.

Sheri Sulewski, 58, of Greenfield, was arrested on Sept. 15 after police received a tip about a woman wandering on Essex Street near High Street, Holyoke police said. She was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and a hat and was carrying a heavy trash bag. Police said they found two shotguns and the knives inside. She did not have an FID or a license to carry.

Springfield cops arrested a suspect, 20-year-old Jose Santiago-Pacheco, early Friday morning on High Street. The arrest is part of a continued police operation. The officers found a stolen U-Haul in a nearby parking space.

Ludlow, Massachusetts experienced several incidents this week that required police intervention. These incidents include a search warrant on a home resulting in an arrest and the seizure of illegal firearms, drugs, and cash, a car crash near I-90 that sent two individuals to the hospital with minor injuries, and the temporary disappearance of a 25-year-old autistic man who was later found safe.

WESTFIELD — With two reports in the city of what is known as the driveway asphalt scam, and with police in West Springfield also reporting their officers have seen a family known for it, law enforcement officials are warning residents to be on the lookout for this common scheme.

SPRINGFIELD — Hours after his arrest for allegedly kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl, he told police he intended to be the child’s guardian. Miguel Rodriguez, 27, is standing trial in Hampden Superior Court for a litany of criminal charges for snatching the child off the street in 2020 as she headed home from her bus stop around the corner from her home, according to prosecutors.

This week in Springfield, Massachusetts, several incidents occurred that raised concerns for public safety. These incidents include a stabbing incident resulting in non-life threatening injuries, multiple drive-by shootings at the home of the city's police commissioner, the arrest and imprisonment of a registered sex offender who had become a ministerial servant for Jehovah's Witnesses, an alleged kidnapping and rape case, a drug distribution charge, and the trial of a man accused of kidnapping a girl. These incidents highlight the need for increased vigilance and safety measures in the community.

Two incidents occurred in Northampton, Massachusetts this week. The first incident involved a hit-and-run incident at a crosswalk, raising concerns about pedestrian safety. The second incident was a two-car crash that resulted in the closure of Chesterfield Road due to a damaged utility pole. Minor injuries were reported in the crash.

Over the past few days a string of vehicle thefts on the Westfield State Campus is now causing concern.

No plea yet for the man accused of shooting two people in Brookfield in May, killing one, and seriously injuring the other. 43-year-old Devon Dennis was arrested in New York City in July, was brought back to Vermont by police, and appeared in court Friday.

Marcus Hicks, 43, of Springfield, Massachusetts was indicted by a federal grand jury at the United States District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts. Hicks was indicted on one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking felonies.