LEOMINSTER — On Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at about 1:51 p.m., Officer Michael Dingman of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the Dragon’s Leyr in Twin City Plaza following a report of a man chasing a woman with a knife in the parking lot after a road rage incident.
Officers Daniel Parrish and Jonathan Benoit were dispatched to the scene as well.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Dingman.)
The suspect, later identified as Matthew Santucci, entered the Dragon’s Leyr while the reporting party, Lisa McKiernan, 61, of Worcester, left the parking lot of the Dragon’s Leyr and parked at the salon next to Hannaford Supermarket.
Matthew Santucci, 29, of 10 Autumn Hill, Leominster, is an unmarried engineer who works for Liberty Supplies on Hamilton Street.
Officer Dingman met with McKiernan in Hannaford’s parking lot to get her side of the story.
McKiernan said she was driving on Interstate 190 North and Santucci was on Route 2 West. When the roadways merged into Route 2 West, McKiernan said Santucci “almost ran into her and killed her.”
After the alleged near miss, McKiernan said that both she and Santucci took the nearest exit off the highway. Santucci then pulled into Twin City Plaza and parked in a spot outside the Dragon’s Leyr. McKiernan said she pulled into the plaza’s parking lot, but didn’t park in a spot. McKiernan said she then rolled down her window and told Santucci that he “almost killed her.” Matthew then came up to her vehicle, pulled out a 6″- 8″ long pocket knife and attempted to slash her tire as she sped off toward Hannaford where she called 911.
According to police, when Santucci stopped chasing after McKiernan’s vehicle, he went back into the Dragon’s Leyr and bought rolling papers from an employee who witnessed the incident.
The witness largely confirmed what McKiernan told Officer Dingman. She said that, initially, Santucci parked in a spot in front of the store and McKiernan pulled into the parking lot, but didn’t park her vehicle. The witness said “they began to argue loudly” and Santucci – who was near the driver’s side of McKiernan’s vehicle – whipped out a pocket knife and attempted to slash her tire.
“Matthew began to swipe at her driver side rear tire but Lisa was driving forward every time Matthew was getting close to her,” Officer Dingman recalled the witness saying. “Lisa drove away towards Hannafords when Matthew sprinted at her with the knife in his hand. After a short time passed, Matthew entered the store and purchased items…He paid cash for RAW rolling papers and tips totaling $11.69.”
At this time, Sgt. Mao called Officer Dingman to let him know that he had pulled Santucci over at 458 Main Street.
“Sgt. Mao approved a showup with the victim,” Officer Dingman said. “I read her the showup instructions from a card I carry on my person. She agreed to do a showup. I radioed my mileage and transported her to the location of Matthew.”
Nolo.com, a legal encyclopedia, defines a “showup” as a type of eyewitness identification similar to a lineup. The key difference is that during a showup, the witness or victim is presented with a single individual, as opposed to a lineup where multiple people are shown. Typically, showups happen in the field, while lineups are more likely to be conducted at a police station.
“Lisa positively identified him from my cruiser twice,” Officer Dingman said. “At this point, Officer Garcia transported Lisa back to Twin City Plaza so I could further conduct my investigation.”
Officer Parrish read Santucci his Miranda Rights while Officer Benoit searched Santucci’s vehicle and found a Snap-on brand pocket knife with a black handle and silver blade.
“I asked if Matthew would talk with me after being read his Miranda Rights. He stated he would talk with me,” Officer Dingman said. “Matthew stated the incident was a road rage incident that began on the highway. The Route 2 West and 190 North merge was the initial encounter. Matthew stated he was almost run off the road by Lisa. He pulled into the Dragon’s Leyr’s parking lot and she pulled up behind him. He stated the adrenaline rush took over and they got into an argument. Matthew stated, ‘I’ll slash your tires’ to Lisa, reached into his pocket to something that was not there and chased after her. He realized his behavior was not necessary and stopped chasing after the vehicle. He denied ever pulling a knife on Lisa. He stated the pocket knife that was in his vehicle remained in his vehicle during the entire encounter.”
According to Officer Dingman, Santucci said he didn’t call police when he believed he was going to be run off the road because “road rage incidents happen all the time.”
“I asked him if they to happen to him all the time, [to] which he said no and that he was a docile man. Officer Benoit advised me Matthew had one entry on his BOP [Board of Probation record] which was for OUI.”
Officer Dingman arrested Santucci for assault with a deadly weapon (pocket knife) and attempt to commit a crime (slashing of vehicle tire).
Santucci was transported to the Leominster Police Department without incident.
His bail was set at $250 cash.
Santucci was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Dec. 18, 2023. After his arraignment, he was released on his own personal recognizance under the condition that he stay away with McKiernan.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from December, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
So Lisa followed someone who “almost killed her” to a parking lot to yell at him? He couldn’t have been too threatening. Haha