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GARDNER – On Sept. 2, at about 5:24 p.m., Officer Marcus Guerreiro of the Gardner Police Department was working patrol when he observed a white 2016 Hyundai Sonata cross the double yellow lines as it was heading west on Pearl Street.
“The vehicle crossed the double yellow lines trying to go around as the vehicle in front of it was attempting to make a right-hand turn,” wrote Officer Guerreiro in his Narrative for the incident. “I began to follow the vehicle with my blue emergency lights on and again observed the white sedan crossing the double yellow lines near the intersection of Betty Spring Road.”
According to Officer Guerreiro, the vehicle turned left onto Lawrence Street, where the driver turned on the right blinker “as if to acknowledge” that Officer Guerreiro was attempting to pull it over, then drove slowly for about 1/3 of a mile before making a right turn onto Cross Street, where it stopped.
“Immediately after the vehicle stopped, I exited my cruiser and walked up to the driver’s side of the vehicle. The operator rolled her window down and asked what she was being pulled over for,” wrote Officer Guerreiro in his Narrative. Later adding, “I observed the operator as well as the passenger to not be wearing any seatbelts. I told the driver she was pulled over for a marked lane violation for crossing the double yellow lines several times. Officer [Alexa] Morgan arrived on scene to assist.”
Officer Guerreiro said he asked the driver and the passenger for their licenses because the passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The driver – who was initially pulled over for a marked lane violation – said she didn’t have to hand her license over “because she didn’t do anything wrong and knows her rights.”
“The passenger, later identified as Eugene Miller III, handed his license and registration over the driver despite her telling him not to. After several attempts into obtaining identification, the driver stated her name was Karen Calderon, born in 1992,” wrote Officer Guerreiro in his Narrative. “Both parties’ information was relayed to dispatch. The driver continued arguing about the stop stating that I was making things up and that she only crossed the lines for a little bit. The driver also repeatedly stated that the whole incident was being recorded in her rear-view mirror and complained that I didn’t have a camera of my own.” Miller, 33, is a resident of 418 River Street in Winchendon (the corresponding information for the driver was not included in the arrest report obtained by News Link Live).
Dispatch advised Officer Guerreiro that Miller – the passenger – was the owner of the vehicle and that the name given by the driver was not Karen Calderon but actually Nancy Escobar.
According to Officer Guerreiro, Escobar exited the vehicle while he was speaking to dispatch.
During an inventory search of the vehicle, officers found Class B and Class C substances (the specific kind of drugs the officers found were redacted in the arrest report obtained by News Link Live). In Massachusetts, Class B drugs are defined as any of the following: cocaine, crack, LSD, oxycodone, oxycontin, ecstasy, hydrochloride, amphetamine, and methamphetamine. Class C Substances in the state include the following narcotics: Klonopin, Valium, Vicodin (Hydrocodone) and Ativan.
Both Miller and Escobar were arrested and the car was towed.
Miller was charged with Possession of a Class B Substance and Possession of a Class C Substance. The specific charges against Escobar were redacted in the documents obtained by News Link Live from the Gardner Police Department (but it is known that she gave a false name to police, which is a misdemeanor in Massachusetts).
Miller’s bail was set at $240.
There is no further information available to report due to the heavily redacted documents obtained in New Link Live’s FOIA request.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from September, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
