Lawrence teen arrested during Westford traffic stop; police find machete, 400+ grams of marijuana, and underage drug possession

WESTFORD — At approximately 12:37 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Westford Police Officer Collin Breault was monitoring traffic near 504 Groton Road when he observed a BMW 320 with Massachusetts plates traveling eastbound.

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

“As the vehicle passed me, I observed it to have such dark window tint on the front and rear windows that I could not see into the vehicle as my headlights were shining on them,” Officer Breault said. “I then got behind the vehicle and initiated a motor vehicle stop at 527 Groton Road. I made contact with the operator, identified as Wanyer Manzueta.”

According to police, Wanyer Manzueta, 19, is a resident of Myrtle Street in Lawrence, MA.

“I advised Wanyer of the reason I had stopped him was for the window tints and he stated he was unaware,” Officer Breault said. “As I spoke with Wanyer, I observed him to not be wearing his seatbelt.”

Officer Breault said he then tested the front driver-side window tint using his calibrated window tint meter and confirmed it to be 16 percent.

“I then observed all three passengers sitting in the back seat to not be wearing seatbelts,” Officer Breault said.

Officer Breault then asked the passengers for their names and they replied with the following:

• Wilner Mendez (21 years old)
• 17-year-old female
• 17-year-old male

“Upon returning to my cruiser and conducting a CJIS [the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) database] inquiries on the given names, it yielded no results,” Officer Breault said. “I then returned to their vehicle and asked them to confirm the spelling of their names, which is when ‘Wilner’ changed his spelling to ‘Wilmer Mendez Cuevas.’ I later identified the female sitting in the front passenger seat to be [18-year-old] Yezairah Gutierrez.”

Officer Breault then requested the vehicle’s registration and Manzueta’s license, which Manzueta produced.

“I then returned to my cruiser and conducted a CJIS inquiry of Wanyer,” Officer Breault said. “The CJIS inquiry showed that Wanyer had one active default felony warrant out of Haverhill District Court for Larceny over $1200 and Conspiracy.”

Officer Breault then requested a warrant status check on Manzueta through dispatch, which confirmed that a default warrant had been issued.

At this time, Officer Breault was joined on scene by Officer Tyler Bella and Sergeant Justin Belinsky.

“I then returned to Wanyer and instructed him to step out of the vehicle and walk back to my cruiser. Once back at my cruiser, I advised Wanyer he was being placed under arrest due to a default warrant and instructed Wanyer to place his hands behind his back,” Officer Breault said.

Manzueta was then handcuffed and placed in the back of a cruiser.

“I then returned and made contact with [the 17-year-old male] and asked him to step out of the vehicle and to speak with me at my cruiser,” Officer Breault said. “Once I pat frisked him for weapons, he immediately apologized for giving a fake name and identified himself as [17-year-old] [name redacted]. I then ran all passengers through CJIS and confirmed none of them had [an] active driver’s license.”

Officer Breault asked Manzueta if he had someone who could take custody of the vehicle, he stated that he did not.

“I then advised the passengers that due to none of them having a driver’s license, the vehicle is going to be towed and they will have to get a ride home,” Officer Breault said. “I also advised Kayla that due to her being a juvenile, I will need to speak to a parent or guardian. I then requested the next available tow and was advised ‘Christopher’s Towing’ was en route.”

Officer Breault then requested the passengers to step out of the vehicle, one at a time.

“Before stepping out of the vehicle, I asked the passengers if there were any weapons in the vehicle, all parties stated ‘no,’” Officer Breault said. “A pat frisk for weapons for officer safety was conducted on Wilmer and [the 17-year-old male] once they were outside of the vehicle. As Yezairah was stepping out of the vehicle, she was holding a pink purse. I observed in plain view, this purse to contain a marijuana grinder and a sealed dispensary package inside it. I then took the purse from Yezairah and placed it on the hood of my cruiser as she stood with Officer Bella off to the side. It should be noted that Yazairah is only 18 years of age and not old enough to possess marijuana legally.”

“As I was inventorying Yezairah’s purse, I observed a bag of marijuana in custom packaging that was an exact match to the ‘ACK Zombie’ that was seized from Wanyer, and a marijuana grinder in Yezairah’s pocketbook,” Officer Breault said. “I then seized the marijuana and placed it in an evidence bag. I believe based on the fact that Wanyer had individual packaging of marijuana and a scale and that Yezairah had one bag of the same marker, that Wanyer supplied it to Yezairah in a drug transaction.”

Officer Breault said that while waiting for the tow truck he conducted a motor vehicle inventory.

“During my inventory, I discovered a machete in a black sheath on the front, passenger floorboard,” Officer Breault said. “The machete can be described as a 22-inch, double sided blade with a black, plastic grip. I removed it from the vehicle and secured it in my cruiser.”

After putting the machete in his cruiser, Officer Breault returned to the vehicle where he discovered a black backpack in the trunk that was partially open.

“As I stood over the bag, the overwhelming scent of unburnt marijuana emanated from the bag,” Officer Breault said. “I could see inside the bag and observed there to be two large plastic bags containing unburnt marijuana. I observed there to be dozens of what I observed to be custom designed bags that through my training and experience know to contain marijuana.”

Officer Breault said that he also observed a scale along with other drug paraphernalia. He then seized the backpack and placed it in his cruiser.

“I then confirmed through CJIS that Wanyer did not possess a medical marijuana card,” Officer Breault said.

Officer Breault then issued Yezairah a Town By-Law Citation for Chapter 124: Possession of under two ounces of marijuana in public by person under 21.

“Before clearing the scene, I advised all of the back seat passengers that they are receiving a verbal warning for not wearing their seatbelts,” Officer Breault said. “The passengers then responded with ‘we do not care.’”

Officer Breault then transported Manzueta to the Westford Police Department for booking.

“I remained with the other four occupants of the vehicle, Yezairah Gutierrez, Wilmer Mendez, [the 17-year-old female] and [the 17-year-old male],” Officer Bella said. “[The 17-year-old girl’s] mother, [name redacted], was contacted via phone and advised of the incident. [The 17-year-old girl’s mother] called an Uber to pick up [her daughter] and the other parties. [The 17-year-old boy’s] mother, [name redacted], was contacted and advised of the incident. [The 17-year-old boy’s mother] advised that she could not come down to pick up [her son] due to having young children at home, so she gave [her son] permission to take the Uber. The Uber arrived on scene bearing MA/REG [# redacted] and took all parties.”

Back at the station, Officer Breault weighed the marijuana and reported that the amount in the custom packaging totaled 154 grams, while the marijuana in the plastic bags weighed 254 grams.

The 45 custom packages of marijuana contained 3.5 grams each as follows:

1. 36 “ACK Zombie”
2. Three “Top Bar”
3. One “Black Cherry Soda Head”
4. One “Candy Cartel”
5. One “Runtz”
6. One “SupreB”
7. One “Smoking Skeleton”

“Due to my training and experience it appears that Wanyer is distributing Marijuana and possibly carries the machete for protection,” Officer Breault said.

Manzueta was issued a citation for the following offenses:

• Window Obstructed/Nontransparent
• Seat Belt, Fail Wear

In addition to the citation, the following charges were filed against Manzueta:

1. Fail Appear Upon Recognizance
2. Carry Dangerous Weapon
3. Marijuana +1 oz, Possess <21 Years of Age
4. Distribute Class D Drug
5. Furnish Marijuana to Person < 21 Years old
6. Possession to Distribute Class D (Marijuana)

“Bail Commissioner Matt Day was contacted at 3:30 a.m., who denied bail,” Officer Breault said.

Manzueta remained in the custody of the Westford Police Department until he was transported to his arraignment in Ayer District Court.

Manzueta was arraigned in Ayer District Court on the morning of May 20, 2025. Following his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance.

He then attended a pretrial hearing on June 25, 2025.

Manzueta’s next court date is a probable cause hearing scheduled for Aug. 7, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in May, 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