SHIRLEY — On July 17, 2024, at approximately 7:07 p.m., Sergeant Brandon Bruin of the Shirley Police Department was on patrol, stationed in the Mohawk parking lot observing traffic on Great Road, when he noticed a flatbed tow truck transporting a car and motorcycles with “Jose Pena Trucking LLC” written on the side of it, pull into the Insurance Auto Auction parking lot after hours.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Sgt. Bruin and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“I observed the operator as a young Hispanic male,” Sgt. Bruin said. “The truck stopped at the barricades for approximately 30 seconds, and then proceeded into the yard. Please note that the Insurance Auto Auction has a strict policy that no cars will be picked up or dropped off past 4:00 p.m. It is well marked that there is no trespassing on the property, and police will take notice.”
Sgt. Bruin followed the tow truck into the yard.
“Another Hispanic male appeared and opened the cantilever gate that separates the parking lot to the interior yard,” Sgt. Bruin explained. “The tow truck drove into the interior yard to the rear of the parking lot. I observed the young Hispanic male exit the driver seat and get out of the cab. He was alone in the tow truck. When he saw me, he started to walk away from me and create distance. I then asked the second male, identified as Jose Piña of Haverhill, why he was there and why he was opening the gate after hours. He gave me his identification and he told me he was a worker at the Insurance Auto Auctions and he was supposed to be there. They were zero cars in the parking lot and business had concluded for the day. He told me that trucks are allowed to drop off cars past 7:00 p.m. on most days. I informed him that I spoke with the manager Erica on this matter, and that is not accurate. There was supposed to be no business conducted after hours.”
Sgt. Bruin then approached the driver of the tow truck and asked him for his driver’s license.
“He stated that he did not speak English, but he spoke Spanish. Through broken Spanish, I asked him what his name and date of birth was, and he told me his name was ‘Jimmi’ but could not provide me with a date of birth,” Sgt. Bruin said. “I asked him his date of birth again, and he stated it was in July, but could not elaborate. I asked him where he lived, and he said ‘Haverhill.’ At this point, I asked Officer [Auria] Rojas to respond to my location because of the language barrier. Officer Rojas speaks fluent Spanish.”
When Officer Rojas arrived on scene, he asked the driver of the truck for his identification. The truck driver said he didn’t have his identification on him because he left his wallet at home. When asked for his name and date of birth, he wrote the name “Jimmi Ruiz” on a piece of paper and told police he forgot his birthday.
“I asked Officer Rojas once again to confirm his name and date of birth,” Sgt. Bruin said. “The operator gave the same name and then gave July 5, but with no year. He again stated he forgot when he was born. It was my opinion that the operator was actively trying to deceive us and giving us false information to try and evade police custody.”
Sgt. Bruin had dispatch call the manager on duty of Insurance Auto Auction. The manager confirmed with dispatch that no one was supposed to be on the property conducting business at that time, adding they should leave immediately and come back tomorrow.
“Both men, Ruiz, and Pina climbed back into the truck to get out of the rain,” Sgt. Bruin said. “The operator was very nervous and was looking around, potentially for escape. He then made a phone called and stated he was speaking with his father. Officer Rojas asked the operator if he possessed a driver’s license, to which he said that he did, but he needed to fix something.”
At this time, Sgt. Bruin said he made the determination that the operator of the truck was trespassing.
“I also felt that the operator was giving me a false name and did not in fact have a driver’s license,” Sgt. Bruin added. “I instructed Officer Rojas to tell him to place his hands behind his back because he was going to be placed under arrest for trespassing and operating without a license.”
When he was informed he was going to be arrested, the man, who was still seated in the truck, attempted to hide something between the seats.
“I stopped him and was able to see his wallet,” Sgt. Bruin said. “He then pulled his Dominican Republic identification out of his wallet.”
The operator of the truck was identified as Enrique R. Ruiz. According to police, Ruiz is 25 years old and is a resident of 9 Linton Avenue, Apt. 1, in Methuen, MA.
Ruiz was handcuffed and placed into the rear of Sgt. Bruin’s cruiser.
“I transported Ruiz back to the Shirley Police Department for booking,” Sgt. Bruin said. “Officer Rojas was able to communicate all of the booking questions to Ruiz. We were unable to finger print Ruiz because our finger print machine would not turn on. Ruiz was able to call his wife to communicate his situation. While booking, dispatch was able to find a Massachusetts license number for Ruiz. I ran his license number and confirmed his identity. His license number is Massachusetts [# redacted] and it was confirmed suspended by dispatch.” Sgt. Bruin did not mention if Ruiz had a commercial license that would have permitted him to legally operate the flatbed truck.
Ruiz’s bail was set at $40.
Ruiz was charged with trespassing, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and for misleading a police officer/obstruction, he was charged with witness/juror/police/court official, intimidate.
Ruiz was arraigned in Ayer District Court on July 18, 2024.
His next court appearance is on Aug. 22, when he is scheduled to have a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from July, 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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