Ashburnham man arrested for driving onto Westminster basketball court, confronting juvenile after son’s fight

WESTMINSTER — On Friday June 7, 2024, at approximately 5:35 p.m., Officer Patrick Porpora of the Westminster Police Department

Officer Connor Furey was speaking with a juvenile male in the fire department’s parking lot about an alleged assault incident that occurred 15 minutes before in the playground at the Westminster Elementary School.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Statement of Facts written by Officer Porpora and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

When Officer Porpora arrived in the fire department parking lot a short time later, he met with Officer Furey and the reporting party, who was wearing green shorts, brown flip flops and was holding a ripped black t-shirt.

The reporting party stated that he was at the playground with a group of friends when another juvenile male threw a ball at him. He threw the ball back, and the other juvenile responded by pinning him against a fence. The reporting party said that while he was being pushed against the fence, the other juvenile tried to hold his arms behind his back.

The reporting party stated that, in order to escape from the other juvenile male, he punched him in the face twice, which caused the other juvenile to bleed.

“I observed small scratches and scrapes on [the reporting party’s] arms and dried blood that did not appear it was from him,” Officer Porpora said. “[The reporting party] stated that after the altercation, he got on his bicycle and went to the basketball courts behind the town hall. Shortly after, [the other juvenile male’s] father, Brad Dufour drove by in his black Chevy pickup truck with [the other juvenile male] in the front seat. Brad then turned around and drove back toward the basketball courts. Brad then drove his pickup truck across the center lane, over a side walk, and onto the grass in front of the basketball court. (It should be noted there was a large number of kids in the area during this incident and people using sidewalks nearby). [The reporting party] stated Brad then got out of the vehicle and began threatening him by saying he was going to find his house and kill his family. Brad then accelerated at a high rate of speed off the sidewalk and away from the basketball courts.”

According to police, Brad M. Dufour, 41, is a resident of 128 Willard Road in Ashburnham.

At this time, the reporting party called his mother, Nubia Ramos-Delimachanes, 43, and asked her to respond to the scene. An ambulance was also called to the scene to evaluate the reporting party for injuries. Since Ramos-Delimachanes is a native Portuguese speaker, when she responded to the scene, she called her daughter [name redacted] so she could translate for her.

“Nubia signed a refusal with the ambulance once [the reporting party] was evaluated by EMS personnel,” Officer Porpora said. “During this time, Sergeant [Nicholas] Aufrey located video of both incidents from cameras at the elementary school and town hall. Brad also called the station and stated his son, [name redacted], had been in a fight and was on his way to Leominster Urgent Care to get stitches. Officer Furey went to the basketball courts where the truck was suspected to have been driven.”

“I returned to the station and reviewed the videos gathered. A flash drive containing video footage of the incident that happened on the playground was entered into evidence,” Officer Porpora said. “At 5:10 p.m. on that video, I observed [the reporting party] and [the other juvenile] going back and forth with each other for approximately five minutes. During this time [the other juvenile] was throwing a ball at [the reporting party] and [the reporting party] would throw balls/plastic bottles back at him in what appeared to be a friendly manner. [The other juvenile] then began pushing [the reporting party] against a fence and tried to hold his arms back. At one point [the other juvenile] threw an unidentified object at [the reporting party] and [the reporting party] proceeded to try and grab [the other juvenile] and threw a punch toward him. [The other juvenile] responded by throwing multiple punches back at [the reporting party] and contacted [the reporting party’s] face multiple times. [The reporting party] continued punching [the other juvenile] until he brought [the other juvenile] to the ground and walked away from the scene. Based on the footage observed there was enough evidence to charge both [the reporting party] and [the other juvenile] with assault and battery if their parents desired to press charges.”

Officer Porpora then watched the surveillance footage from the town hall basketball court area.

“At 5:26 p.m., I observed a black Chevy pickup truck driving outbound on South Street past the basketball courts,” Officer Porpora said. “South Street is a public way in the Town of Westminster maintained by the Westminster DPW. At 5:27 p.m., the same black pickup truck is travelling inbound on South Street near the basketball courts. The pickup truck then crosses the marked double yellow line and proceeds to drive over the crosswalk and onto the grass directly in front of the basketball court. In the video there are multiple vehicles on the roadway, and juveniles in the basketball court (including: [the reporting party]). Brad then gets out of the driver’s seat and walks toward [the reporting party] appearing to say something. Brad’s fists are clenched during this exchanged and he points his finger toward [the reporting party]. Brad then gets back into the vehicle, drives off the sidewalk, and back across the road at a high rate of speed. In the video you can see the back-left tire of the pickup truck leaving debris and a mark behind while accelerating away. Officer Furey also photographed the sidewalk in front of the basketball court that showed the sidewalk was defaced by a black mark consistent with a vehicle tire mark.”

Officer Porpora said that after watching the video of the incident at the basketball court, he called Dufour on a recorded line to get his side of the story.

Dufour stated that his son called him, said that he had been in a fight at the playground, and asked to be picked up.

“Brad stated he then went to the basketball court and confronted [the reporting party] because he stated [the reporting party] has caused problems in the past,” Officer Porpora said. “Brad stated he drove the way he did because he was upset over what happened. I asked Brad what he said to [the reporting party] when he got out of his truck. Brad stated he told [the reporting party] that he was going to find out where he lives so he could speak to his mother. Brad also stated he drove the way he did to scare [the reporting party]. I advised Brad there may be charges going forward toward him on this incident. I then asked Brad if he would like to pursue charges against [the reporting party] on account of the playground incident. Brad stated he did not wish to press charges against [the reporting party]. Brad informed me that [his son, the other juvenile] had gotten five stitches about his right eye at the Leominster Urgent Care.”

Officer Porpora then called Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter so she could translate for her mother.

“I then called [Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter] on a recorded line,” Officer Porpora said. “[Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter] was with Nubia and was updating her on the information I was providing. I explained to [Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter] that [her brother – the reporting party’s] version of the fight was not completely accurate. I asked [Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter] if they would like to pursue charges against either [the other juvenile] or Brad for their actions. [Ramos-Delimachanes’ daughter] stated ‘they would not press charges against [the other juvenile] but would like to go forward with charges against Brad for what he said about their family.’”

Dufour was charged with the following:

• Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle
• Marked Lanes Violation
• Vandalize Property
• Threat to Commit Crime

Dufour was arraigned in Gardner District Court on July 12, 2024.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from June, 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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