LEOMINSTER — On the evening of Sunday, May 5, 2024, Officers Caulin Salvi and Timothy Galvin of the Leominster Police Department were dispatched to the Motel 6 located at 48 Commercial Road following a report of a “suspicious disturbance.”
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officers Salvi & Galvin and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Dispatch advised units that a motel employee had called 911 after Room 248 called the front desk and a female was heard saying ‘put your hands on me and we have a case,’” Officer Salvi said. The Motel 6 employee also informed dispatch that she had warned the occupants of Room 248 for being too loud a little while before. Another employee of Motel 6 had also called 911 to report the incident.
“When Officer Galvin and I arrived on scene there was muffled conversation that I could hear through the window,” Officer Salvi said. “I could not hear one voice over the other as it sounded like the voices were talking over each other. The shades were drawn tight and I could only see through a gap if I stood on the AC unit housing. I could see a chair was knocked over on the floor and a male party drinking a brown liquid out of a plastic cup.”
Officer Salvi reported seeing a woman – later identified as the girlfriend of the man in the room – pick up the blue chair that had been knocked over, as well as a quilt blanket, and return them to what appeared to be their original positions.
After peering through the window of the motel room, Officer Salvi knocked on the door. The male occupant of the room – later identified as Matthew Ramos – opened the door and asked the officers what was going on.
According to police, Matthew F. Ramos, 38, is a resident of 296 Mechanic Street in Leominster.
“Matthew was initially friendly with officers until he inquired as to why I was looking in the window,” Officer Salvi said. Later adding, “Due to the suspicious nature of the call and the possibility that it was domestic related I did not reveal to Matthew that I was watching his girlfriend [name redacted] clean the room.”
Ramos’ girlfriend opened the door slightly and told the officers she was fine. Before she could say anything further, Ramos closed the door on her.
“I could see a thumb-length crescent mark on [Ramo’s girlfriend’s] face, but because of Matthew’s actions I could not get close enough to see if it was a fresh mark or wound,” Officer Salvi said.
Officer Salvi instructed Ramos to stop interfering with the investigation by closing the door so the officers couldn’t see into the room or speak with his girlfriend.
“[Ramos’ girlfriend] opened the door again and attempted to start speaking with us,” Officer Salvi said. “Matthew chose to start yelling about our body cameras being on, they had been activated the entire time.”
Ramos then pointed aggressively into Officer Galvin’s face and retreated into the motel room, slamming the door behind him.
The officers stepped back from the doorway to contact the street supervisor, Sergeant Mao, and request additional units for backup. During this time, Ramos repeatedly opened the door to yell at the officers and then slammed it shut. Then, when the officers were on the phone with Sgt. Mao, Ramos exited his motel room, and paced up and down the second-floor balcony while shouting at the officers.
According to Officer Galvin, Ramos repeatedly said he would sue the officers if they “knocked on the door to check on the well-being of the woman inside.”
At this time, several residents of the motel had exited their rooms to see what the commotion was about. One was watching from the second-floor porch of a different building, while another from Room 250, was rubbernecking from the same balcony as the officers.
“[Ramos’ girlfriend] opened the shades and I was trying to get her to crack the window to tell me what had happened, Matthew was yelling over me while speaking to Officer Galvin and I could not hear [her], only attempt to lip read,” Officer Salvi said. “Officer Galvin and I determined that Matthew’s loud and obnoxious conduct had now disturbed multiple residents in our presence and moved to place Matthew under arrest for disturbing the peace.”
Matthew pulled away from Officer Galvin, his hands flashing up past the officer’s face. Officer Galvin quickly positioned Matthew between himself and Officer Salvi, securing Ramo’s right arm.
“I perceived Matthew to be actively resisting and his size and movements indicated a potential for bodily harm to officers,” Officer Salvi said. “I drew and activated my taser with my right hand as I grabbed at Matthew’s left arm with my left hand. I shouted at Matthew to get on the ground or I would tase him.”
Officer Salvi trained his taser on Ramos’ waist while telling him to stop and get on the ground.
Matthew backed up against the railing, pressing his arms tightly against his sides, effectively pinning his own hands. According to Officer Galvin, Ramos tensed his body and leaned against the railing to prevent being handcuffed.
“I keyed my radio with my right thumb while keeping my taser pointed at Matthew and told units to step it up,” Officer Salvi said. “Matthew now seemed to be trying to keep his arms pinned to his own side. I could hear additional units’ sirens and determined that Matthew was not trying to actively fight officers so I holstered my taser and kept control of Matthew’s arms, keeping them pinned to his side.”
When Sergeant Mao arrived on the scene, he tried to de-escalate the situation and speak with Ramos, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
“Matthew would continue to be loud and belligerent and the other residents of the motel were now attempting to persuade Matthew to calm down on their own,” Officer Salvi said. “Matthew was placed under arrest for disturbing the peace.”
Ramos was then transported to the Leominster Police Station for booking, while Officer Salvi and Sgt. Mao remained on scene to speak with his girlfriend who had tried to hug Ramos as he was being handcuffed by police.
“After being asked to breathe and calm down so that officers could interview her, [Ramos’ girlfriend] adamantly denied any physical altercation,” Officer Salvi said. “[She] stated that Matthew had been drinking and had $3,000 worth of bets on the basketball game he had been watching. I did observe an almost empty 750 ml bottle of E&J Brandy that was the same color as the liquid in the cup Matthew was drinking.”
Officer Salvi said that it was difficult to get Ramos’ girlfriend to answer any questions because she was hyperventilating.
“The mark I had seen on [her] cheek did not appear to be fresh and looked like a birthmark or tan line from sunglasses,” Officer Salvi noted. “Officers were unable to find probable cause that domestic violence had occurred in the room without [Ramos’ girlfriend’s] cooperation and cleared the area.”
The officers then spoke with the motel employees who had called 911. The employees informed Officer Salvi that an occupant of Room 265, located on the other side of the building from where Ramos was staying, had complained about the noise coming from his room. Additionally, the former occupant of Room 249, which was right next to Ramos’ room, requested to be moved after complaining about the noise at around 9:30 p.m.
Ramos was arraigned in Leominster District Court on May 6, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from May, 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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