LEOMINSTER — On Sunday, January 12, 2025, at approximately 12:01 a.m., Officer Carmen Garcia was dispatched to the DoubleTree hotel at 99 Erdman Way after a staff member reported several individuals causing a disturbance in the parking lot. The caller also reported that one of the individuals was holding a baseball bat and appeared to be threatening a hotel guest.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Garcia, Det. Oswaldo Ramos, and Sergeant Richard Woodward, and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Upon arrival, I met with the hotel security guard, identified as Devin [last name redacted],” Officer Garcia said. “Devin stated that there had been a group of people in the hotel parking lot fighting and one of the parties had a baseball bat.”
Devin identified Eric Stone as the hotel guest involved in the altercation.
According to police, Eric Stone, 39, is a resident of 12 Oxford Street, Leominster, MA.
Initial Police Encounter with Stone
Devin informed officers that he overheard the group in the parking lot accusing Stone of selling drugs from his room.
After searching the parking lot and finding that the other parties had left, Officer Garcia spoke with the hotel clerk, who confirmed Stone’s stay and provided his room number.
“I asked the hotel clerk how long Eric had been staying and the clerk stated that Eric had been staying there through different registration times. The hotel clerk confirmed Eric had been staying Saturday, January 4, 2025, through Monday, January 6, 2025. The second reservation was this week on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 through today,” Officer Garcia said. “At this time, my supervisor, Sergeant [Richard] Woodward arrived on scene. I asked the hotel clerk if we could speak to Eric and Devin stated that he would take us up to Eric’s room to gather his statement and check on his well-being.”
The officers then proceeded to Room 428, where Stone answered the door and stepped outside to speak with them.
Stone told Officer Garcia that he had been in a verbal altercation in the parking lot with his wife, her sister, her sister’s friend, and his friend. He claimed he had not yelled at anyone and was simply sitting in his truck while the others argued.
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When asked about the nature of the dispute, Stone explained that he and his wife were going through a possible divorce and that she believed he was “messing around with everybody.” He added that his friend suspected him of having a relationship with his sister, which he denied; he said that he and his friend’s sister were just getting away from their significant others.
Drug Allegations and Room Search
Sergeant Woodward then informed Stone that a witness overheard the group in the parking lot accusing him of selling drugs out of his room. Stone denied the allegations, stating, “No, not anything here, and I don’t keep anything here.”
When Sgt. Woodward asked for permission to search the room, Stone said, “Oh, I may have some personal stuff in here.”
“I asked him what,” Sgt. Woodward said. “Mr. Stone said for his personal use. I told him that I meant what type of drug he might have. Mr. Stone stated, ‘Um, I had a small bag, I think, of methamphetamines on me in here.’ After Mr. Stone opened the door for us, we entered the room. In plain view on the dresser area on the bed I observed large bundles of small baggies. Through my training and experience as a former narcotics detective, these baggies are commonly used by drug dealers to package their drugs for sale.”
After observing the packaging, Officer Garcia indicated she found a scale, more packaging, and a clear baggie with a white powdery substance inside of it, Sgt. Woodward said.
“I used the scale to measure the weight of the white powdery substance, which measured 10.4 grams,” Sgt. Woodward said.
Sergeant Woodward then secured the room and contacted Det. Oswaldo Ramos to obtain a search warrant.
Investigation Expands
Det. Ramos discovered that Stone had possession of a black 2019 Toyota Tundra, which he had been sitting in during the disturbance.
“The black Toyota Tundra with registration [# redacted] was registered to Jay A. Jerome of 12 Oxford Street, Leominster, Mass; it was also discovered that the registered owner, Jay A. Jerome, is also married to Eric Stone,” Det. Ramos said. The truck was seized and towed to a secure impound yard at the Leominster Police Department pending a search warrant.
“This investigator initially responded to the DoubleTree Hotel and spoke with management to obtain information on Eric Stone and a copy of the Guest Folio; I subsequently obtained a copy of the Guest Folio that had Eric Stone listed as the sole occupant of Room 428 with a check-in date of January 10, 2025, and check out date of January 12, 2025,” Det. Ramos said.
While Det. Ramos was at the DoubleTree hotel, he spoke with Devin, the hotel security guard, who provided more details about the incident to Det. Ramos.
“Devin stated that he was called by his boss and asked to go out to the hotel parking lot for a vehicle that may have been parked inappropriately,” Det. Ramos said. “When he arrived in the parking lot, he observed a guest of the hotel—whom Devin knew to be Eric Stone—sitting in a black pickup truck, surrounded by six subjects: four females and two males. The subjects appeared to be threatening Mr. Stone while he was sitting in his truck, and one of them was menacingly holding a baseball bat.”
Devin said that he called the front desk and asked them to contact the Leominster Police Department for assistance. Devin then informed the group in the parking lot that the police were on the way and they left the area.
“I then finished speaking with Devin [last name redacted] and returned to the Leominster Police Department, where I met and spoke with Eric Stone,” Det. Ramos said.
Stone’s Statement to Detectives
“Before I spoke with Eric Stone, I advised him of his Miranda rights; Mr. Stone indicated that he understood his Miranda rights and still wished to speak with me,” Det. Ramos said. “Mr. Stone told this investigator that he is currently separated from his wife, Jay Jerome, and has been staying at the hotel because of the separation. Mr. Stone indicated that he had been speaking with a female identified as Sara Lima, that they were just friends, and that Jay and some of her friends came to the hotel to start drama and confront him that evening.”
Stone confirmed that they had surrounded him while he was in his truck and threatened him before dispersing when a security guard announced that police were on their way.
“When I questioned Mr. Eric Stone about the narcotics that had been located in his possession and plain view in his room, Mr. Stone indicated that he did have a small amount of cocaine, crack cocaine, and fentanyl on him and in his room and that they were mostly in a small hideaway key box in either a purple or black backpack in the room and that he may have some residue in some baggies in the truck he was in,” Det. Ramos said. “Mr. Eric Stone also indicated that the bag containing the larger white powdery substance was not narcotics but, in fact, sugar.”
Det. Ramos informed him that search warrants would be obtained for his hotel room, vehicle, and any phones in his possession.
Search Warrants and Further Evidence
On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, Det. Ramos obtained a search warrant for Room 428.
Officers executing the warrant discovered various items used to manufacture and package narcotics, including Bunsen burners, beakers, measuring cups, baking soda, and numerous glassine baggies. Police also recovered:
- A small glassine baggie with a white powdery substance
- A corner baggie with a white powdery substance
- Two small glassine baggies containing a hard rock-like substance
All items were sent to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory for testing.
On Jan. 14, Det. Ramos interviewed Jay Jerome at the Leominster Police Department about what transpired between her and Eric Stone on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 12.
According to Det. Ramos, Jerome stated that she and Eric Stone are married but currently separated. She explained that she and Megan Truax (Smith) had gone to the hotel to pickup Truax’s sister, Sara Lima, who had been spending time with Stone and was possibly using drugs with him. Jerome added that she was also there to retrieve her pickup truck, which is registered in her name but was in Stone’s possession.
“Ms. Jay Jerome stated that some other people came along as well and that things got heated when they arrived to confront Eric at the hotel, and that Eric was in the truck with Sara and would not get out of the truck,” Det. Ramos said. “A security guard ended up showing up and said that the police had been called and were on their way, so Sara got out of the truck, and everyone left because no one wanted any drama with the police. Ms. Jay Jerome stated that she only went there to get her pickup truck and nothing else.”
Det. Ramos then asked Jerome whether she knew if Stone had been using or selling drugs.
“Ms. Jay Jerome stated that Eric has had a substance issue for some time now, and he has gone in and out of rehab,” Det. Ramos recounted. “I informed Ms. Jay Jerome that I would obtain a search warrant for the 2019 Toyota Tundra registered to her and that I would let her know when she could pick it up.”
On Jan. 15, Det. Ramos obtained a search warrant for the Toyota Tundra.
“On Friday, January 17, 2025, Detective [Jose] Algarin and I executed the search warrant on the 2019 Toyota Tundra,” Det. Ramos said. “During the search warrant execution in the 2019 Toyota Pickup truck, numerous packaging materials and drug paraphernalia were located in the vehicle and documented with photographs. The packaging material and drug paraphernalia would be an indication of someone involved with the distribution and use of narcotics.”
In addition, Det. Ramos said a small plastic baggie with a hard rock-like substance was also located in the front storage area of the vehicle, it was collected and submitted to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory for proper identification and certification.
Charges and Court Appearance
Stone was then charged with:
- Possession with intent to distribute cocaine
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class B drug (two counts)
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class A drug
Stone was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Jan. 13, 2025.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from January, 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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