SHIRLEY — On Sunday, March 10, 2024, at around 5:49 p.m., Officer Matthew Euliano of the Shirley Police Department was working an overtime patrol shift. While driving west on Leominster Road, the officer entered the license plate number of a 2005 Toyota Camery into his mobile data terminal. The terminal indicated that the registration of the vehicle was revoked.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from Officer Euliano’s printed Personnel Narrative and Statement of Facts for the incident.)
“I activated my emergency lights; the vehicle drove onto Catacunemaug Road where it came to a complete stop,” Officer Euliano said. “I asked the operator for his license and registration. The back seat passenger, who I later identified as Raymond Fernandez [29 years old] stated the operator did not speak good English so he would translate for him.”
Officer Euliano identified the driver by his Puerto Rican license as Justin Vega Lopez, 27, of 183 Austin Street, Apt. 3, in Worcester. The officer cited the revocation of the vehicle’s registration as the cause for the stop.
“I asked Mr. Lopez how long he has lived in Worcester he stated for about a year,” Officer Euliano said. “The RMV shows Mr. Lopez registered the vehicle in his name on 08/16/2023. The registration revoked date is 11/25/2023. His driver history shows a ‘Non-Renew: Unpark Parking Ticket’ on 08/30/2023. I explained to Mr. Lopez there is no grace period to switch his license over in Massachusetts and should have been at the time he moved to Mass. Due to Mr. Lopez having residency in Massachusetts and not switching his license over to a Massachusetts license, he was placed under arrest.”
Lopez was transported to the Shirley Police Department for booking.
Lopez was charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with registration suspended, and unregistered motor vehicle.
His bail was set at $40.
Prior to his arraignment in Ayer District Court on March 12, Judge Tejal Metha dismissed all the charges against Lopez at the request of the Commonwealth and the case was resolved.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from earlier this month, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
