LEOMINSTER — On Sunday, April 21, 2024, at approximately 4:09 p.m., Officer Shane Crawford of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the parking lot of Nikki’s Liquors on North Main Street following a report from a woman there that her ex-boyfriend attacked a vehicle she was a passenger in with a metal pipe.
When Officer Crawford arrived on scene, he met with the reporting party, [first name redacted] Sanchez. Sanchez told the officer that she had been staying at the DoubleTree hotel on Erdman Way from Thursday until Saturday.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Crawford and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Ms. Sanchez stated that she stayed at the hotel to get away from her now ex-boyfriend of five years, Mr. Ryan Palmer. Ms. Sanchez said she had lived with Mr. Palmer for that whole time period too,” Officer Crawford said.
According to police, Ryan R. Palmer, 38, is a resident of 60 Fourth Street in Leominster.
Sanchez said that at 2:00 a.m. the day before, she was in her male friend’s vehicle in the parking lot of the DoubleTree when Mr. Palmer “found her.”
“Ms. Sanchez stated that Mr. Palmer is always finding her, and she is not sure how he knows where she is,” Officer Crawford said. “Ms. Sanchez stated that Mr. Palmer then approached the vehicle with a metal pipe and began hitting the driver’s side passenger door of the vehicle while yelling insults at her. Ms. Sanchez said they began to drive off and Mr. Palmer chased the vehicle with the pipe in his hand.”
Sanchez stated that they drove away from Palmer on North Main Street, heading towards Fitchburg. As they left, Palmer got into his vehicle and followed them erratically, attempting to swerve into their car, which forced them to swerve to avoid a collision.
“Ms. Sanchez stated where North Main Street turns into two lanes, they were in the left-hand lane and Mr. Palmer was in the right-hand lane,” Officer Crawford recounted. “Ms. Sanchez stated that while the vehicles were driving, Mr. Palmer was reaching out through his window, attempting to open her door (she was seated in the passenger’s seat). Ms. Sanchez stated that she was unable to call the police at the time, as her phone was dead, and that her male friend did not want to speak to the police. Ms. Sanchez stated that she was very scared given Mr. Palmers actions.”
Sanchez told Officer Crawford that, after the initial incident the day before, she went to the Leominster Police Department to report the incident, but was told that she needed more evidence.
“Ms. Sanchez said she was driving up and down North Main Street looking for cameras and said she stopped at Nikki’s Liquors and Mr. Palmer tried to speak to her,” Officer Crawford said.
This is when Sanchez contacted police again.
“I then began asking questions about her male friend. Ms. Sanchez seemed hesitant to give me his information and told me that he was not going to speak to the police. I was able to get a name and phone number for him,” Officer Crawford said. Later adding, “I asked Ms. Sanchez if there was any damage to [her male friend’s] vehicle, to which she stated there were some dings in the door. I further asked Ms. Sanchez if it was a baseball bat that Mr. Palmer was wielding, to which she stated she did not know.”
Officer Crawford asked Sanchez if she wanted to file a 209A (abuse prevention order) she said she would go to court tomorrow to file it.
Officer Crawford said that he also spoke with Officer Jodi Kwan who spoke with Sanchez when she came into the Leominster Police Station to initially report the incident on April 20, 2024.
“Officer Kwan informed me that Ms. Sanchez asked to apply for an emergency 209a order and when she asked her to speak with her male friend that she was with, Ms. Sanchez left and never came back,” Officer Crawford said.
Officer Crawford then went to Nikki’s Liquors to ask one of the business owners for security camera footage from the time and day of the incident.
“As of writing this report I did not receive any video clips,” Officer Crawford said. “I also attempted to contact [Sanchez’s male friend] telephonically, however no one picked up, and I left him a voicemail. I also inquired with DoubleTree and was informed that there were no outside cameras.”
Officer Crawford then went to Palmer’s apartment on Fourth Street and spoke with him about the incident.
“Mr. Palmer stated that he has dated Ms. Sanchez for the last six years,” Officer Crawford said. “Mr. Palmer said Ms. Sanchez left on Thursday and he was unable to contact her. Mr. Palmer stated that he was concerned as he stated that Ms. Sanchez ‘lives on her phone.’ Mr. Palmer then stated he was able to text her to which he showed me. Ms. Sanchez stated that she wants to stay ‘broken up’ as she knows that if she stays with him, she will cheat on him. Ms. Sanchez further went onto say that it was killing her that she had already hurt him. Mr. Palmer informed me that Ms. Sanchez had previously cheated on him twice and had left him like this situation.”
Palmer added that he had found a note in Sanchez’s vehicle from a married co-worker of hers who was professing his “love” for her. [The married co-worker does not have the same name as Sanchez’s male friend, according to court documents.]
“Mr. Palmer said Ms. Sanchez was involved with a married coworker, which is why he does not want to get involved,” Officer Crawford said. “I asked Mr. Palmer about what had happened on Saturday morning. Mr. Palmer stated that he had found her in the parking lot of the DoubleTree, but when they noticed him, they sped off quickly. I informed Mr. Palmer of the allegation regarding the metal pipe, to which he stated that did not happen as he never got a chance to talk to her. I also informed Mr. Palmer of the allegation regarding him driving erratically towards their vehicle, which he denied, stating that they were the ones driving erratically with their headlights off to get away from him. At this point all I had was Ms. Sanchez’s statement, and I called Lieutenant [Thomas] Wade to confer with him regarding this case. Lt. Wade informed me to place Mr. Palmer under arrest. Mr. Palmer was subsequently placed under arrest and transported to the station for booking procedures.”
Palmer was charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon ([to wit] metal pole).
Palmer was arraigned in Leominster District Court on April 22, 2024.
Following his arraignment, Palmer was released on his own personal recognizance under the conditions that he stay away from and not contact Sanchez.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on May 31, 2024 for a pretrial conference.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from April, 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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