Tip on Fitchburg-stolen car leads Pepperell police to crack, fentanyl, and stolen goods; three arrested

PEPPERELL — On Tuesday, April 9, 2025, at approximately 6:00 p.m., Detective Justin Zink of the Pepperell Police Department learned from a known source—who requested anonymity—that a vehicle he recently “interacted with” had been reported stolen from its owner in Fitchburg earlier that day.

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

“I had dispatch confirm with the Fitchburg PD [Police Department] they received that report,” Detective Zink said. “Dispatch advised that FPD [Fitchburg Police Department] was currently en route to take a report on that vehicle being stolen at the time of the call. I ran the vehicle and noted the vehicle was showing a revoked for insurance cancellation status on my cruiser’s MDT [mobile data terminal].”

At about 6:59 p.m., Detective Zink was clearing a medical call at 14 First Avenue when he spotted the vehicle at 8 First Ave.

“I conducted a ‘trash pull’ the night before, on April 7, 2025, and found drug paraphernalia (broken crack pipe testing positive for cocaine and tin foil testing positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl) amongst the trash as well as mail for 8 First Avenue,” Detective Zink said. “I suspected the vehicle was taken there to either deliver or procure drugs. I saw the vehicle pull out of the driveway and I conducted a stop of the vehicle. I had all occupants keep their hands in view. I saw several ‘push rods’ made of metal wire and cuticle pushers, which had white residue on the ends all in plain view. I know through my training and experience these are used to scrape cocaine residue out of crack pipes.”

Detective Zink reported observing copper scour‑pad material in the vehicle’s center console, noting that crack‑cocaine users employ it as a pipe filter. He also saw two glass smoking pipes containing the same copper material and lined with white residue, adding that, in his experience, marijuana or tobacco pipes do not exhibit such residue and do not use copper sponges as filters.

“I also saw a corner bag on the floor which I know from my training and experience are used to package drugs with,” Detective Zink said. “I requested all occupants to step out of the car for a PC [Probable Cause] search for drugs in the vehicle as well as to determine the status of the vehicle being stolen. All occupants were handcuffed for safety, patted down for weapons, and placed in cruisers.”

During the vehicle search, Detective Zink found a purse belonging to driver Kati Kilroy that contained her identification and a pill bottle labeled for Angela Hachey—a person not present in the vehicle. The bottle was labelled “Gabapentin” and there were three types of pills in the bottle: 42 orange gel capsules matching the prescription, 10 yellow capsules imprinted “GS 180,” and 16 white oval tablets marked “NT 151,” all identified as gabapentin. He also recovered two containers containing a white, rock‑like substance that, based on his training and experience, he believed to be crack cocaine, totaling 2.7 grams, a small vial of pink liquid consistent with methadone, and several glass crack pipes with push rods. Kilroy was placed under arrest.

“A search of the bag in the passenger seat that contained a phone with Ashley Wrightbatchelder’s ID in the phone case. There were several glass crack pipes with white residue and burn marks as well as push rods throughout the bag,” Detective Zink said. “There was a small makeup container that had a small pink Ziploc bag with several white pills and no prescription. I later field tested the pills due to the consistency and look. Through my training and experience I know a lot of ‘pressed’ pills are on the streets and the press and consistency is not as professional as pharmaceutical pills. These pills are often flaky and brittle. The pills tested positive for fentanyl and weighed a total of 4.7 grams.”

Detective Zink said that Wrightbatchelder was also found to have an active warrant out of Gardner District Court. Wrightbatchelder was placed under arrest.

“Before the rear passenger, Joseph Hines, was ordered out of the car, he was shielding a duffel bag with his body that was in the back seat with him,” Detective Zink said. “During the search of the vehicle, I saw the duffel bag still had the tags on it along with a theft prevention device. Inside the bag were a pair of Adidas shoes with tags and a theft prevention device on them. I know from my training and experience that theft prevention devices are typically taken off at the register during checkout and people who steal clothing and items will get the items home and remove them themselves. There were two brand new packages of men’s t-shirts with tags, five men’s large Jack Daniels t-shirts with tags, two packages of men’s Nike socks with tags, one package of men’s large tank tops with tags, a men’s large Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirt with a theft prevention device and tags attached and the jacket Joseph was wearing was a green Celtics jacket which still had tags on it and a theft prevention device at the collar. Joseph was placed under arrest.”

According to police, Joseph L. Hines, 42, is a resident of Snow Street in Fitchburg, MA. Kilroy, 42, and Wrightbatchelder, 34, had no residential addresses listed in the court documents obtained by News Link Live through a public records request of the incident.

“I issued the driver, a verbal warning for driving a vehicle while the registration was revoked,” Detective Zink said. “The vehicle was towed and the plates were seized.”

Hines was charged with:

• Receive Stolen Property under $1200

Kilroy was charged with:

• Possess Class B Drug (two counts)
• Possess Class E Drug (three counts)

Wrightbatchelder was charged with:

• Possess Class A Drug

Hines’ bail was set at $300 cash.

Hines was arraigned in Ayer District Court on April 9, 2025. Following his arraignment, he was released on bail and ordered to stay away from Marshall’s which is where police determined he allegedly stole the clothing from.

Hines attended a pretrial hearing on May 8, 2025. His next court date is scheduled for July 25, 2025.

The court records obtained by News Link Live did not list arraignment details or future hearing dates for Wrightbatchelder or Kilroy.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story occurred in April, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. 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

Why The Leominster Champion Failed

The Medium is the Message by Marshall McCLuhan

The Ego and the ID by Sigmund Freud