Two men arrested during routine traffic stop in Clinton; officers seize Xanax, Clonazepam, and drug paraphernalia

CLINTON — On Friday, January 24, 2025, at approximately 1:55 a.m., Officer Matthew Champagne of the Clinton Police Department was on patrol driving north on High Street when he observed a
vehicle driving in his direction with its front right headlight out.

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

“Once the vehicle passed me, I turned on my emergency blue lights, got behind the vehicle and conducted a motor vehicle stop in front of the Simple Man Saloon, located at 119 High Street,” Officer Champagne said. “I ran the motor vehicle’s plate, Massachusetts registration [# redacted], using my Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) and took notice of the registered owner’s name, Jennifer [last name redacted]. (DOB [redacted]). I also took notice that the vehicle had an expired inspection sticker from 01/20/2023.”

Officer Champagne approached the vehicle on the driver’s side and was met by the operator – later identified as Salvatore DiBuono – as well as the passenger of the front seat, later identified as Matthew McDonald.

“I also took notice of a male party sitting in the back seat,” Officer Champagne “I asked the male what his name was which he replied ‘Chris.’ I then asked what his last name was which he replied ‘Winske’ and provided me with the spelling. I returned to my cruiser and was able to locate Mr. Winske on my MDT, which provided me with the information that he had an active warrant out of Marlborough District Court for two counts of Possession of Class B [Substance].”

According to police, Matthew James McDonald, 31, is a resident of 18 Brigham Street, Hudson, MA; Salvatore P. DiBuono, 57, is a resident of 48 Mount Pleasant Street, Marlborough, MA; and Chrisopher Adam Winske, 38, is a resident of 692 Stow Road, Marlborough, MA.

At this time, Officer Champagne called Clinton dispatch and asked them to send backup to his location.  Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Joseph Lefebvre arrived on scene, along with Patrolman Brendan Rutherford and Patrolman Gerald Guerra.

“I informed Sgt. Lefebvre of the situation, we both approached the door where Mr. Winske was located, asked him to step out, and placed him under arrest,” Officer Champagne said. “Mr. Winske then began to explain that his actual last name was ‘Lawinske,’ but it was determined that he was providing fake names and information.”

Winske was then placed into the backseat of Officer Champagne’s cruiser to await transport to the Clinton Police Department for booking.  

“Sgt. Lefebvre continued to speak with the other occupants of the vehicle through the rear passenger door that Winske left open,” Officer Champagne said. “During this conversation, Sgt. Lefebvre observed in plain view numerous pieces of ‘Chore Boy’ [scouring pads] located on the floorboard and on the rear passenger seat along with an opened corner baggie containing a white powdery residue, which based on his training and experience he believed was cocaine, a Class B controlled substance. Sgt. Lefebvre knows through his training and experience that Chor Boy is used as a filter while consuming drugs, especially crack cocaine.”

Sgt. Lefebvre asked McDonald and DiBuono if there were any drugs in the vehicle, and both said no.

“Sgt. Lefebvre then instructed both Mr. DiBuono and Mr. McDonald to step out of the vehicle and a probable cause search was conducted,” Officer Champagne said. “Sgt. Lefebvre observed more Chor Boy [scouring pads] scattered throughout the vehicle.”

Sgt. Lefebvre also located a yellow backpack on the front passenger floorboard where McDonald was seated. In the side pocket of the backpack was a glass pipe, which Sgt. Lefebvre recognized through his training and experience to be a crack pipe.

Sgt. Lefebvre located the following inside the backpack:

• an unlabeled orange prescription pill bottle containing 70 round yellow pills marked “0.5” which were determined to be Clonazepam
• an empty cigarette pack with pack 1.5 round blue pills labeled “A67” which were also determined to be Clonazepam
• two round yellow pills marked “0.5” which were determined to be Clonazepam
• nine fragmented yellow rectangular pills labeled “R039,” which were determined to be alprazolam (which is sold under the brand name Xanax) 

“Also, inside this same backpack was a Massachusetts photo ID which belonged to McDonald,” Officer Champagne said. “McDonald was subsequently placed in the rear of Officer Guerra’s cruiser to await transport. Mr. DiBuono was issued Massachusetts Uniform Citation 149073AD and sent on his way.”

Officer Guerra and Officer Champagne transported Winske and McDonald to the Clinton Police Station, where they were booked and provided all applicable rights, including Miranda warnings and a phone call, according to Officer Champagne.

McDonald was charged with:

1. Drug Possession of Class E (Alprazolam)
2. Drug Possession of Class C (Clonazepam)

Christopher Winske was charged with his outstanding warrant.

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.

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