Five arrested in nighttime break-in at vacant Westminster building

WESTMINSTER — On Sunday July 20, 2025, at approximately 3:19 a.m., Officer Vanessa Tenore of the Westminster Police Department was on patrol, conducting an area check of 50 Technology Drive, the unoccupied Tyco SimplexGrinnell building, when she came upon three vehicles parked side by side in the parking lot.

Tyco SimplexGrinnel is a fire protection equipment supplier.

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

One of the vehicles was a silver Subaru Impreza, the other was a dark grey Volkswagen Golf, and the third was a red Hyundai.

“The vehicles were unoccupied and all three were still warm to the touch,” Officer Tenore said. “When Officer [Dwight] Richard arrived on scene, he observed the side door of the business building had been smashed.”

“We alerted dispatch of the smashed window and made entry into the building. When we opened the door, we heard what sounded like people running away from us inside the building,” Officer Tenore said. “The building is about 160,000 square feet and four floors, so I requested dispatch send mutual aid to assist in searching the building and locating any parties inside.”

Officer Tenore said state police sent Troopers Alexandria Jackson and Adom Danquah to the scene, while the Ashburnham Police Department dispatched Officer Hiram Velazquez to assist.

Officer Richard said that when he and Officer Tenore entered the building, they began a systematic search starting on the ground floor and moving upward. While searching a ground-floor room, Officer Richard encountered a woman, later identified as 21-year-old Alexis Clark of Westminster, hiding in the corner.

“I asked Clark who was in the building with her, to which she replied Adam and Colin,” Officer Richard said. “Clark was compliant and was detained.”

Officer Richard said Clark was handcuffed, searched by Officer Tenore, and then placed in the back of Officer Tenore’s cruiser.

“After securing Alexis in my cruiser, Trooper Danquah and Officer Vasquez arrived on scene,” Officer Tenore said. “We all began searching the interior of the building to try and locate the other parties. While inside the building, Trooper Jackson arrived on scene. Trooper Jackson located three male parties hiding around an outside wall of the building. Officer Richard and I responded to her location to assist.”

The three individuals were identified as 19-year-old Colin Hines, 20-year-old Austin Pieculèwics, of Gardner, and 18-year-old Jared Shaw of Westminster.

“Jared was searched and placed under arrest by Trooper Jackson, Officer Richard searched and handcuffed Colin, and I searched and handcuffed Austin. Colin and Austin were placed in the back of Officer Richard’s cruiser (#189) and Jared was placed in Trooper Jackson’s cruiser,” Officer Tenore said.

Trooper Jackson transported Jared to the C1 barracks in Athol for a courtesy booking, according to Officer Tenore.

“All three male parties told us there was one more male party who was inside the building named Adam,” Officer Tenore said. “At this point, state police dispatched a K9 to try and locate the remaining party.”

Shortly after, Massachusetts State Police K9 Trooper Jack Doherty arrived with his dog, Roxy, to conduct a search of the building.

While Officer Tenore, Trooper Doherty, and K9 Roxy searched the building, Officer Richard approached Clark in the cruiser and asked her to call “Adam,” which she did.

“I ask if she would call ‘Adam’ because he was not found yet,” Officer Richard said. “Clark had explained she was there with Adam and Colin, and I explained only one of the two was found. Clark called Adam, and he answered the phone. Clark put the phone on speaker, and the first words said on the phone were ‘I Escaped.’”

According to Officer Richard, Clark then told Adam that they were all sitting in police cars and that the phone was on speaker.

“I asked Adam to come back to the cruisers so the whole situation could be sorted out,” Officer Richard said.

A few minutes later, Adam pulled up in his vehicle and was placed under arrest by Officer Richard. Officer Richard said that “Adam” was later identified as 20-year-old Adam Johnson of Leominster.

“Adam was then placed in wrist restraints and searched by Officer Velasquez of Ashburnham PD [Police Department],” Officer Richard said. “Johnson was then placed in Trooper Danquah’s cruiser and transported to the C1 Barracks in Athol [for booking].”

Once all of the parties were taken into custody, Officer Tenore said Westminster Garage was called to tow the four vehicles from the scene.

“Upon inventory of Johnson’s truck, a weed pipe and a slingshot with a knife as the handle was held for safe keeping at the Westminster Police Department,” Officer Richard said. “Johnson was notified by Massachusetts State Police that it would be held at the station in locker number 7.”

Officer Tenore said that once they were all at the station, Austin, Colin and Alexis were all searched and mirandized a second time.

“I informed them all that they were being charged with Breaking & Entering Nighttime with intent to commit a felony. Alexis was placed in the cell, while Austin and Colin remained on the booking bench,” Officer Tenore said. “When asked what happened, Austin and Colin told us that they had seen videos on snapchat of other people their age inside the building, so they all decided to go try. They insisted that they walked in through the main doors on the ground level and that they were not responsible for the newly smashed door window. They said they went to all floors in the building, including the roof. They insisted they didn’t cause any damage to the building while inside. Alexis relayed the same story.”

The bail for all five individuals was set at $100.

“All parties made phone calls to their parents for bail money and a ride home,” Officer Tenore said.

All parties posted the $100 bail and were released from custody at about 8:15 a.m., Officer Tenore said.

“The five parties involved in this incident used force to open the ground floor doors to break and enter into the building which they were not granted permission to be in,” Officer Tenore explained. “The breaking and entering occurred during nighttime hours. The building is in a secluded area away from the vision of traffic or people passing by. The ability for people to have broken into the building and never be detected is very likely. Even if the involved parties had stolen items they were in possession of, their flight and hiding from officers would have allowed them to ditch any of the stolen items.”

All five individuals were charged as follows:

Alexis Clark, 19, of Westminster, was charged with:

• Breaking & Entering Building Nighttime for Felony

Austin Pieculèwics, 20, of Gardner, was charged with:

• Breaking & Entering Building Nighttime for Felony

Colin Hines, 19, of Westminster, was charged with:

• Breaking & Entering Building Nighttime for Felony

Jared Shaw, 18, of Westminster, was charged with:

• Breaking & Entering Building Nighttime for Felony

Adam Johnson, 20, of Leominster, was charged with:

• Breaking & Entering Building Nighttime for Felony

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

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