Malden man bites cop after late-night traffic stop in Maynard for erratic driving and OUI

MAYNARD — On Friday, June 27, 2025, at approximately 12:35 a.m., Officer Daniel Tully of the Maynard Police Department was conducting traffic enforcement at 3 Powder Mill Road, in Maynard, watching the traffic light, as vehicles drove through the intersection.

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

“I observed two vehicles take a left turn off of Waltham Street, onto Powder Mill Road,” Officer Tully said.

According to Officer Tully, the vehicle in front was a gray Prius and the vehicle behind it was a gray RAM pickup truck with Massachusetts plates.

“I observed the gray pickup truck take the turn, driving close behind the gray Prius,” Officer Tully said. “Immediately after turning onto Powder Mill Road, the pickup truck accelerated, picking up speed, closing the distance between the two vehicles.”

Officer Tully stated that as the pickup truck gained speed and approached the gray Prius, it made an unsafe and sudden lane change into the left lane of traffic, fully crossing two yellow marked lines with both tires and passing approximately one to two feet from the gray Prius.

“Upon observing the marked lanes violation, I pursued the vehicle, activating my blue lights and signaling for the vehicle to stop,” Officer Tully said. “As I followed the vehicle, I passed the gray Prius, who pulled over immediately, and I drove behind the gray RAM pickup truck, continuing to flash my blue lights. I observed the vehicle slow down to about 15-20 miles per hour, but the operator continued driving forward. The vehicle drove slowly about 100 feet at the same speed and still had not pulled over or stopped. It is to be noted that the traffic was light, and there was more than sufficient space to safely pull over and stop the vehicle.”

The pickup truck pulled over to the side of the road and came to a brief stop before turning onto Dawn Road.

“At this time, the vehicle was now obstructing the entrance to Dawn Road, and when I noticed the vehicle was not moving any further, I turned onto Dawn Road and positioned myself behind the vehicle at an angle,” Officer Tully said. “I observed the operator pull forward and drive up onto the curb by the residence of 69 Powder Mill Road, on Dawn Road. I called in the motor vehicle stop to dispatch.”

Shortly thereafter, Officer Leon Muraguri, who was already in the immediate area, arrived on scene, and approached the vehicle at the passenger-side window, while Officer Tully approached the driver-side window.

“When I reached the window, I introduced myself to the driver, who I later determined to be Igor De Almeida Souza, and he did not seem to understand what I was saying,” Officer Tully said.

According to police, Igor De Almeida Souza, 32, is a resident of Malden, MA. He was born in Brazil.

“He gave me a blank stare before saying, ‘No English, no English,’” Officer Tully said. “As I asked him for his name and where he was coming from, I established that he only spoke Portuguese, and his speech was slurred. Igor attempted to exit the vehicle, and I advised him to remain inside.”

Officer Tully observed that Igor had glossy, bloodshot eyes and appeared to be struggling to stay focused, frequently shifting and looking around while the officer attempted to communicate with him.

“As I spoke with Igor, I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person,” Officer Tully said. “I continued to attempt to communicate, asking Igor for his driver’s license and registration. Igor handed me a driving permit, and a passport. When I asked Igor for his registration, he retrieved a pile of stacked papers, which he quickly grabbed from his glove box before saying, ‘Registration.’ I was able to see the registration in the stack of papers, and I gave him everything else back. Throughout the conversation, Igor attempted to exit the vehicle multiple times, and I continued to advise him to remain inside the vehicle.”

While Officer Tully was speaking with Igor, Officer Muraguri requested that Officer Marcos Oliveira respond to the scene, as he is fluent in Portuguese. Upon returning to the cruiser with Officer Muraguri, Officer Tully took a closer look at the driving permit Igor had provided.

“Having Igor as a solo operator, I found Igor to be driving without a license based on the RMV permit’s restriction, which includes having a licensed passenger over the age of 18, with driving experience for over one year,” Officer Tully said. “The IMS [Incident Management System] in my cruiser confirmed this information.”

When Officer Oliveira arrived on scene, Officer Tully approached the driver’s side window with him, so Officer Oliveira could translate.

“At this time, I advised Igor to exit the vehicle to conduct a field sobriety test,” Officer Tully said. “Igor exited the vehicle and put both of his arms out in front of him, body language consistent with suggesting that I handcuff him. I told Igor that I was not trying to handcuff him, and I just wanted him to walk to the rear of the cruiser to conduct the test. Igor kept turning, acting confused, but I tried to reassure him that he just needed to walk to the back of the vehicle.”

Officer Tully stated that as Igor walked, he appeared unsteady on his feet and struggled to make his way to the rear of the vehicle without assistance.

“At the rear of the pickup truck, Igor put his arms out again for me to handcuff him, but I again tired to explain that I did not want to handcuff him,” Officer Tully said. “Igor took out his phone and placed it on the rear of the pickup truck, attempting to record the incident. As he tried to place the phone in a position to record, it kept falling, and he appeared to have poor coordination, fumbling with the phone. The phone fell several times, and I observed the phone not to be recording anything.”

Officer Tully stated that Officer Oliveira began translating as he asked Igor whether he had been drinking.

“Igor was refusing to communicate with Officer Oliveira, and he retrieved his phone to make a call,” Officer Tully said. “We instructed Igor to put the phone down, and he ignored our commands, yelling back at us in Portuguese.”

According to Officer Tully, Officer Muraguri then approached Igor and reached for his phone, instructing him to put it down.

“At this time, Igor became volatile, attempting to pull away from us and clenching his fists, as he yelled at us. Officer Oliveria explained later that he had been threatening us in Portuguese,” Officer Tully said.

Igor refused to do the field sobriety test and he continued to yell and pull away from the officers, Officer Tully said.

“At this time, I handcuffed Igor, and we conducted a search of his person, before placing him inside the rear of the cruiser to be transported back to the station,” Officer Tully said. “The drive to the station took me around five minutes, and by the time I parked, the inside of the cruiser had the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage.”

Once Igor was inside the booking area, Officer Tully and Officer Muraguri asked him to have a seat.

“Igor refused to sit, pulling away from us and saying, ‘no, no, no,’” Officer Tully said. “Officer Muraguri advised Igor that he did not have to sit, but we needed to take booking photos, as he motioned towards the wall. Igor kept turning around, and motioning towards the handcuffs, asking us to uncuff him.”

Officer Tully stated that Officer Muraguri explained to Igor that he would be uncuffed after the photos were taken.

“Igor became volatile again, raising his voice at Officer Muraguri. I told Igor to listen to Officer Muraguri, and Igor turned to face me,” Officer Tully said. “Igor began to yell in my face, repeating the word, ‘Black’ in an aggressive tone.”

Officer Muraguri explained, “Igor was yelling, ‘Black,’ while pointing at me and saying, ‘Brazil only,’ and then hitting his chest. I interpreted that to mean he didn’t like to be addressed by a ‘white officer’—Officer Tully—and wanted to be addressed by only me, ‘Black,’ or Officer Oliviera, ‘Brazil.’”

Officer Tully continued, “As I raised my hand and began to speak, gesturing that I did not understand what he meant, Igor lunged towards me. As I gave Igor verbal commands and told him to get back, Igor bit my middle finger, almost breaking the skin.”

Officer Tully said he pulled his finger out of Igor’s mouth and told him not to do that.

“Officer Muraguri stood between myself and Igor as he instructed Igor to stay back,” Officer Tully said. “While Officer Muraguri stood between us, Igor kept motioning to me with his head, visibly upset with me. At this time, I stepped back and stood in the doorway, as I determined that staying out of the room would be more helpful in this situation.”

Igor was then asked if he was willing to take a preliminary breath test.

“Igor refused, and he was advised of notice of suspension,” Officer Tully said. Adding, “Igor went through the booking process per the department’s policy and procedures, and he was afforded all of his constitutional rights. The bail commissioner was contacted and the bail was set. Igor was given multiple phone calls, including one video call.”

Igor was charged with the following:

1. Driving under the influence of alcohol/liquor
2. Negligent operation of a motor vehicle
3. Unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle
4. Assault and battery on a police officer
5. Threatening to commit a crime
6. Marked lanes violation
7. Refusing to stop for a police officer

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in June, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.

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