LEOMINSTER — On Saturday, July 13, 2024, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Officer Robert Connors of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the intersection of Central Street and Jytek Drive at Jytek Industrial Park following reports of a vehicle being driven erratically.
Officers Marjus Zylyftari, Renzo Vasconcelos, and Sergeant Ny Mao responded to the scene as well. Officers Noah DeCesare and Shane Crawford arrived on the scene for training purposes.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officer Connors, Officer Salvi, and Sgt. Woodward, and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Dispatch informed the responding officers that they had received two calls about a white Ford that was all over the road, and that one of the callers was driving behind the vehicle, following it. Dispatch then updated the units that one of the callers had stopped with the vehicle and had removed the female driver from the car, who was reported by the caller to be stumbling.
Officer Connors said he arrived at the intersection of Central Street and Jytek Park at 9:41 p.m.
“Upon my arrival, I observed two vehicles on scene with marked patrol units #2202 and #2207 already on scene,” Officer Connors said. “Sgt. Mao told me that he saw a female party, identified as Julia Piscione in the driver’s seat of the white Ford.”
According to police, Julia L. Piscione, 25, is a resident of Boutelle Road in Sterling, MA.
Officer Connors approached the vehicle that was occupied by the reporting party, a 54-year-old man named Kevin [last name redacted] and his 20-year-old daughter.
“Kevin stated to me that he had been following the white Ford on Route 117 since Bolton Center,” Officer Connors said.
Kevin said that the vehicle Piscione was driving was “swerving all over the road” and “almost crashed into the side guard rails at least a half dozen times.”
“Kevin stated that he got her out of the car at Jytek Park and would not let her get back into the vehicle based on what he observed,” Officer Connors added.
Officer Connors then went to speak with Piscione.
“Julia was speaking to Officer Vasconcelos and stated that she had one Truly Hard Seltzer several hours ago,” Officer Connors said. “I then went around to the passenger side of the vehicle, where Officer DeCesare told me that he could see an open Truly can in a box of Truly’s behind the front passenger seat. I confirmed that there was one open Truly can in a box of Truly Hard Seltzers. I asked Julia how many Truly’s she had, to which she told me one I asked her again, to which she told me none. I asked her to specify one or zero, Julia stated she had one.”
At this time, Officer Connors directed Piscione to the passenger side of her vehicle on a flat surface of the road with a painted white line so he could ask her to perform some field sobriety tests.
“It is important to note that Julia was barefoot at this time,” Officer Connors said. “I asked Julia for her consent to conduct Standard Field Sobriety Tests [SFSTs] and she consented.”
The first test Officer Connors asked Piscione to perform was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test.
According to findlaw.com, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test is a field sobriety test where an officer has an individual follow an object (such as a pen tip or pen light) with his/her eyes. The HGN test checks for the involuntary jerking of one’s eyes as they gaze side to side. This involuntary jerkiness is said to increase while under the influence of alcohol.
“I told Julia to follow the pen with her eyes and her eyes only, and to not move her head. Julia stated she understood,” Officer Connors explained. “I observed a lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus, and an onset of approximately 40 degrees in both eyes. I also observed vertical nystagmus. Julia moved her head to follow the pen multiple times throughout the test, and I reminded her to keep her head still and follow with only her eyes. Julia continued to follow the pen with her head after this instruction. While I was performing the HGN test, I observed Julia wobbling side to side, almost losing her balance a few times.”
The next field sobriety test Officer Connors asked Piscione to perform was the walk-and-turn test. This test requires the individual to walk heel-to-toe in a straight line with their hands at their sides for approximately nine steps (which are counted out loud), then turn around and walk back to the starting point in the same manner.
After demonstrating the walk-and-turn test to Piscione, Officer Connors asked her to start the test.
“Julia was unable to keep her balance, having to right herself several times throughout the test,” Officer Connors said. “Julia also was not able to follow my direction to take heel to toe steps, often stepping off the white line or several inches in front of her rear foot. I stopped Julia and reminded her to take heel to toe steps and stay on the white line. Julia stated she understood and attempted to redo the test. Julia was unable to take heel to toe steps yet again. Julia did, however, turn around in the manner that I instructed her to do so.”
The third field sobriety test Officer Connors asked Piscione to perform was the one leg stand. This test involves lifting one leg about six inches off the ground, while holding the foot in a position parallel to the ground, with arms kept at the sides.
“I told Julia to stand on one foot of her choosing and to keep her hands down by her side,” Officer Connors said. “I told Julia to keep her other foot off the ground and to not let it touch the ground. I instructed Julia to count in the fashion of one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand until I told her to stop.”
After explaining the instructions for the one leg stand test, Officer Connors asked Piscione if she understood, and she confirmed that she did. He then told her to begin the test.
“Julia began the test,” Officer Connors said. “Julia placed her foot down multiple times during the test. After the first time, I told Julia to keep her foot off the ground. Julia placed her foot on the ground again after this instruction. Julia also utilized her arms to maintain her balance. I told Julia to keep her arms by her side. Julia stated she understood but utilized her arms again to maintain her balance. Julia made it to 24-one thousand and placed her foot on the ground again. I told Julia to stop the test.”
Officer Connors stated that he arrested Piscione for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor based on his observations during the field sobriety tests.
After she was handcuffed and placed into the back of a cruiser, Piscione told Officer Crawford that she had a firearm in her car.
“Officer Crawford retrieved the firearm from Julia’s purse which was in the front seat of the vehicle,” Officer Connors said. “The firearm was loaded with a round in the chamber. The firearm was logged into evidence and assigned a property number.”
Officer Connors transported Piscione to the Leominster Police Station for booking.
Richard Woodward, who was on duty at the booking desk, stated, “Ms. Piscione was given all her statutory rights. Ms. Piscione agreed to take the breathalyzer test. After I read Ms. Piscione her Miranda warnings, she indicated that she understood them. I asked Ms. Piscione a series of booking questions.
According to Sergeant Woodward:
- Piscione initially said she was not under the care of a doctor for any condition that would impact her, but then stated she was under a doctor’s care for deep vein thrombosis.
- She reported taking Trazadone and last took it that morning.
- She said she had not taken any illegal drugs.
- Piscione claimed she had one drink at Funky Murphys in Marlborough at 11:45 a.m. and stopped drinking at midnight.
- When asked if she felt the drink affected her driving, she responded, “I think somebody put something in my drink.”
“During the booking process I could detect a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her person. I was standing approximately eight feet from Ms. Piscione with a glass barrier in front of the desk,” Sergeant Woodward noted. “Ms. Piscione eyes were bloodshot, her speech was slurred, and she had trouble standing straight. After completing the booking Ms. Piscione was taken to the breathalyzer area to be tested.”
Officer Caulin Salvi then conducted the breath test on the Leominster Police Department’s Drager Alcotest 9510.
“After observing Julia Piscione for 15 minutes, I administered a breath test,” Officer Salvi said. “The test results showed a breath alcohol concentration of 0.315 and 0.301.”
Officer Connors noted that a result of 0.30 or higher is well above the legal limit of 0.08. “The breath test showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.30, which exceeds the legal limit of 0.08,” he stated.
After Piscione took the breath test, she was charged with the following offenses, according to Officer Connors:
OUI Liquor – “Based on my observations during the SFSTs, Julia appeared to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor,” Officer Connors explained. “This was corroborated by the breath test result of 0.30. The test was administered by Officer Salvi during the booking process, and Julia consented to the test. Due to the results of the breath test, I seized Julia’s license.”
Carrying a Firearm while Intoxicated – “Julia had a loaded handgun with a round in the chamber in her purse, which was within her immediate reach.”
Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle – “Julia was operating a motor vehicle on Central Street and Jytek Park while under the influence of intoxicating liquor,” Officer Connors said. “Central Street and Jytek Park are both public ways maintained by the City of Leominster. Julia’s impaired operation of the vehicle put other motorists and pedestrians in danger.”
Marked Lanes Violation – “Kevin stated that he saw Julia swerve over the yellow line multiple times and was driving on the opposite side of the road.”
Piscione’s bail was set at $200.
She was arraigned in Leominster District Court on July 15, 2024, after which she was released on bail with the potential of bail revocation.
Piscione’s next court appearance is a pretrial conference hearing scheduled for Sept. 4, 2024.
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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