LEOMINSTER —On Friday, March 15, 2024, at 7:10 p.m., Officer Marjus Zylyftari of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the area of 116 Central Street following a report of an erratic driver.
The individual who reported the incident stated that they were driving behind a Honda CR-V, which was traveling below the speed limit on the wrong side of the road and intermittently striking the curb. The caller also provided the Honda’s license plate number to dispatch.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officers Zylyftari, Renzo Vasconcelos, and Jodi Kwan. They do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity).
While enroute, dispatch told Officer Zylyftari that the reporting party said the vehicle had taken a right turn onto Litchfield Street from Central Street and then another right onto Union Street.
Officer Renzo Vasconcelos, responding to the same call, found the vehicle near Union and Avon streets and performed a traffic stop. He noted that the vehicle was traveling at 5-10 miles per hour in a 30-mph zone on the rim of a deflated front left tire. In the car with the driver was her 12-year-old son, who she later told police has Autism.
Shortly thereafter, Officer Zylyftari arrived at the location of the traffic stop and took over the investigation, speaking with the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Andrea Lemos-Rodriguez by her Massachusetts Driver’s License.
According to court documents obtained by News Link Live, Andrea L. Lemos-Rodriguez, 49, resides on Beech Street in Fitchburg.
“I asked Andrea if she was aware of why she was being pulled over and she said no,” Officer Zylyftari said. “I asked Andrea as to why she was driving slowly and all over the road and she could not give me a straight answer. I asked Andrea why she was operating all over the road and she said ‘sorry,’ and made a hand gesture motioning swerving. I asked Andrea if she knew she had a flat tire and she said no. The front left tire was riding on the rim.”
Officer Zylyftari said that while speaking with Lemos-Rodriguez he noticed “a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her person.”
“I also noticed Andrea’s speech to be slurred and she had bloodshot, glassy eyes,” Officer Zylyftari said. “I asked Andrea if she had anything to drink tonight and she said no. I then asked Andrea if she was willing to submit some roadside assessments and she said yes.”
Officer Zylyftari asked Lemos-Rodriguez to exit the vehicle and directed her to the rear of her vehicle in front of a cruiser which had its white headlights turned on.
“Andrea had to hold the door panel of the vehicle while getting out of it,” Officer Zylyftari noted. “As she got out of the vehicle Andrea was not steady on her feet and was swaying back and forth. Note that the surface where the roadside assessments were administered was flat and clear of debris.”
The first roadside assessment Officer Zylyftari asked Lemos-Rodriguez to perform was the walk-and-turn test.
The walk-and-turn test requires a person to walk heel-to-toe along a straight line, keeping their hands at their sides, for about nine steps. After reaching the ninth step, they must turn and return to the starting point in the same manner, often while counting the steps aloud.
After demonstrating the test to Lemos-Rodriguez, Officer Zylyftari said she began the test prematurely and missed several heel-to-toe steps, stepping off the white fog line she was using as a guide. Then, as she completed her ninth-step, she walked away to checked on her son in the vehicle.
“Andrea was traveling with her 12-year-old son who, according to Andrea, is diagnosed with Autism,” Officer Zylyftari said. “After the first assessment, I concluded that it was unsafe to continue with the assessments due to her child being in the vehicle in need of his mother and the fact that Andrea was going back and forth towards the vehicle to check him while other vehicles were passing by.”
Officer Zylyftari then asked Lemos-Rodriguez to call someone to pick up her son because she was going to be arrested.
“After giving Andrea multiple choices and plenty of time to arrange so her son could be picked up, I placed Andrea under arrest and my back-up unit Officer Vasconcelos drove Andrea’s son to the police station,” Officer Zylyftari said. (Lemos-Rodriguez’s son was later picked up by his father at the police station). “Based on my observations on scene, I formed the opinion that Andrea was operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. I handcuffed Andrea behind her back and double locked for safety.”
Officer Zylyftari then transported Lemos-Rodriguez to the station for booking.
At the station, Lemos-Rodriguez consented to a chemical breathalyzer test; the first two tests were administered by Officer Jodi Kwan, who wrote the following in her Personnel Narrative:
“On Friday, March 15, 2024, I, Officer Kwan, while assigned to house officer duties, attempted to administer the breath test using the Drager Alcotest 9510, during the first attempt the suspect did not blow hard enough. During the second attempt, I grabbed the same mouthpiece, the machine displayed “Mouth Alcohol” and started to print the failure.”
Following another 15-minute observation, Officer Zylyftari administered a new test at about 9:06 p.m. This time the breathalyzer came back with a result of 0.12% blood alcohol concentration (BAC).
Officer Zylyftari then seized Lemos-Rodriguez’s license and she charged with the following:
- Marked lanes violation
- Negligent operation of a motor vehicle
- OUI liquor or .08%
- Reckless endangerment of a child (because, according to Officer Zylyftari, Lemos-Rodriguez “created substantial risk of serious bodily injury to her son while operating a vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage.”
Officer Zylyftari also filled out a 51A form to notify the Department of Children and Families of suspected child abuse and/or neglect.
Lemos-Rodriguez’s bail was set at $40.
She was arraigned in Leominster District Court on March 18, after which she was released on her own personal recognizance.
She’s scheduled to appear in court again on May 3, 2024, for a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from March, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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