WESTMINSTER — On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at approximately 5:27 a.m., Officer Travis Heath and Officer Dwight Richard of the Westminster Police Department were dispatched to the area of State Road East and Hager Park Road (near the 2A/MA-140 intersection) following a report of a car accident involving two vehicles.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Heath and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
When Officer Heath arrived on scene, he observed a blue Ford F-150 pickup truck in the middle of the intersection with heavy front-end damage. Pushed passed the intersection on Hager Park Road was a 2024 Volkswagen Taos with heavy rear end damage.
“Upon my arrival, Officer Richard informed me that when he arrived on scene, a passerby observed the operator of the F-150 run from the scene towards the area of Narrows Road,” Officer Heath said. “He was described as a male wearing a gray sweatshirt. The operator of the Volkswagen was standing outside her vehicle, complaining of neck pain from the crash.”
According to police, the operator of the Volkswagen was a 24-year-old woman.
“The Westminster Fire Department arrived on scene a short time later to evaluate [the driver of the Volkswagen] for injures,” Officer Heath said. “After conducting a check of the immediate area for the operator of the F-150, I contacted dispatch to send an additional unit from the MSP [Massachusetts State Police] to help look for the operator in the area he was last seen. A short time later, MSP arrived in the area and began searching 2 Narrows Road and the surrounding area. I began to conduct an inventory of the F-150 to attempt to identify a possible operator of the vehicle.”
After searching the passenger side floor of the Ford F-150, Officer Heath found two cell phones and a pay stub with the name Jose Garcia Diego on it.
“I relayed this information to dispatch who informed me that Jose’s RMV address stated he was out of the same address as the vehicle was registered and that his license status was suspended,” Officer Heath said. “After finding this information, I had dispatch contact the Fitchburg Police Department to attempt to make contact with Jose or the registered owner of the vehicle, Neribeth Medrano-Bueno (DOB: [redacted]).”
At 5:41 a.m., Westminster Fire Department personnel transported the driver of the Volkswagen to Heywood Hospital for treatment of whiplash, as a precaution for a potential head injury, and for general pain.
After the Westminster Fire Department left the scene, Officer Heath called dispatch and asked them to request an additional wrecker from Westminster Garage to take possession of the vehicles involved in the accident. He also reported that the fire department requested dispatch to contact the Massachusetts State Police again to deploy their air wing, given the crash’s severity and the potential for severe head injuries to the Volkswagen driver.
“Massachusetts State Police advised it would be about a 90-minute ETA [estimated time of arrival] for the air-wing, but they would be sending a K9 asset to the scene with an approximate ETA of 15 minutes,” Officer Heath said. “While waiting for the wreckers to take the vehicle, myself and Massachusetts State Police assets searched the area that the operator was last seen.”
A short time later, Officer Richard informed Officer Heath that he was flagged down by a passerby who said he was a man in a gray sweatshirt run across Hager Park Road and then run across the street in the area of Redemption Rock Church. After hearing this, Officer Heath and the Massachusetts State Police troopers who had already arrived on scene began a search of that area.
At 5:57 a.m., Officer Heath said that Westminster Garage arrived on scene and took possession of the Volkswagen.
“The Volkswagen was transported back to Westminster Garage and the F-150 stayed on scene awaiting MSP K9,” Officer Heath said. “Once the road was opened back up, Officer Richard and I continued the search of the area with MSP.”
At around 6:15 a.m., Sergeant Nicholas Auffrey arrived on scene and Officer Heath briefed him on the situation. The officers then resumed their search around Redemption Rock Church and the adjacent roads.
“At 6:25 a.m., I was standing near the entrance of Redemption Rock Church and Our Savior Lutheran Church on Hager Park Road,” Officer Heath said. “While looking at the bushes on the side of the road, I heard officers yelling at someone. At the same time, I observed a male wearing a grey sweatshirt and black pants run from the wooded area in between the two churches.”
The man ran across Hager Park Road and into the driveway of the residence located at 2 Hager Park Road.
“Once I observed him running across the road, I yelled for him to stop and began a foot pursuit of the individual,” Officer Heath said. “We ran behind the house and towards the trees in the back yard. The individual ran back towards the house and then turned to run towards Narrows Road. I again yelled for the person to stop running. After a few seconds, he came to a stop. I ordered him to the ground to which he complied. I ran up to the individual and made contact with him and placed him into custody at 6:32 a.m.”
Shortly after, Sergeant Aufrey and Officer Richard joined Officer Heath to assist with searching the man.
“Upon searching his person, we located a wallet with a Mass ID, identifying the individual as Jose Garcia Diego,” Officer Heath said.
According to police, Jose Gerardo Garcia Diego, 36, is a resident of 81 Boutelle Street, Fitchburg, MA.
Garcia Diego was placed in the back of a police cruiser where he was assessed by Westminster Fire Department personnel for injuries.
“After their assessment, Officer Richard transported Jose back to the station for booking,” Officer Heath said. “Once back at the station, I began the booking process per department policy. Jose was read his Miranda rights at 6:53 a.m., Jose was provided a copy of his rights in Spanish and acknowledged he understood by shaking his head ‘yes.’”
Westminster Fire Department personnel came into the booking room to further assess Garcia Diego for injuries.
“Jose was complaining of frostbite on his feet (he did not have shoes on during the arrest),” Officer Heath said. “Jose requested to be transported to the hospital for evaluation. After briefly finishing the booking questions, at 7:01 a.m., Jose was transported to Leominster Hospital in custody with Officer Richard for evaluation.”
Garcia Diego was charged with the following:
- Negligent Operation of Motor Vehicle
- Operating Motor Vehicle with License Suspended
- Leaving the Scene of Personal injury
- Resist Arrest
Garcia Diego’s bail was set at $1,000.
He was arraigned in Gardner District Court on Oct. 17, 2024. Following his arraignment, Garcia Diego was released on bail with the potential of bail revocation. On Nov. 11, 2024, Garcia Diego attended a pretrial hearing, which was continued to Dec. 6, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
To learn more about News Link Live’s unique business model, please read the following:
An online business model that could replace local newspapers
The Medium is the Message by Marshall McCLuhan
The Ego and the ID by Sigmund Freud
