ORANGE — On Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, just after 7:00 p.m., Detective Travis Rushford of the Orange Police Department was on patrol driving on Route 202 in New Salem in a department issued unmarked vehicle and working in plain clothes when he observed a silver BMW sedan with Massachusetts plates traveling south.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Travis Rushford and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“I knew that this vehicle was registered to Stanely Woodbury,” Det. Rushford said. “Woodbury had recently been brought to my attention during on-going illegal narcotics investigations in the Athol/Orange area that are actively being investigated by the Northwestern District Anti-Crime Task Force (NDATF) which I am also assigned to.”
Detective Rushford stated that he decided to continue following the BMW as it traveled to the City of Springfield, where he observed a person being dropped off at the Cumberland Farms located at the intersection of Carew Street and Liberty Street.
“The BMW then left and began to park on random side streets and circle the immediate area of Cumberland Farms,” Det. Rushford said. “At one point, I pulled into Cumberland Farms and observed a subject standing where the BMW had dropped someone off. I immediately recognized that subject to be Michael Pickup, who I am very familiar with and know that he is involved in illegal narcotics.”
According to police, Michael J. Pickup, 42, is a resident of Orange, MA. Court records indicate he’s single and unemployed.
“Pickup then walked out of my view for a short time, and I observed him getting into the BMW just down the road,” Det. Rushford said. “The BMW then left the City of Springfield, making a short stop in Chicopee at a gas station. I was then able to loosely follow the vehicle as it drove back to the Town of Orange, where I asked Officer Evangeline Cakounes to conduct a motor vehicle stop in her marked cruiser, as I had learned that the registration plate came back to a white BMW, not a silver one, and I knew that Woodbury was recently driving a white BMW.”
Officer Cakounes conducted a traffic stop on Route 202 near Herrick’s Tavern and informed Woodbury, who was driving, of the reason for the stop. Det. Rushfod also responded to the scene to assist Officer Cakounes.
“As I approached the vehicle, I observed the back seat passenger to be Pickup and the front seat passenger to be Courtney Lawton,” Det. Rushford said. “Surrounding Pickup were multiple square pieces of aluminum foil. I know from my training and experience that users of illegal narcotics will take aluminum foil and fold it into small squares which are used to inhale narcotics while smoking them.”
Detective Rushford stated that he also observed small pieces of copper Brillo pad strands on the floor of the vehicle, which he recognized as materials commonly used to smoke crack cocaine through a pipe.
“I asked Woodbury where they were coming from tonight, and he stated that they were just out for a drive, getting gas, and snacks,” Det. Rushford said. “I asked if they had gone anywhere specific and he would not say. Based upon my knowledge and observations of their travels, observations in the City of Springfield, along with the narcotics paraphernalia within the vehicle, I called Officer Kyle Johnson to conduct a narcotics sniff with his narcotics certified K-9, Zeus.”
Detective Rushford stated that Officer Johnson arrived shortly afterward, and the occupants were removed from the vehicle so that Officer Johnson and K-9 Zeus could conduct a drug sniff of the vehicle.
“Officer Johnson deployed K-9 Zeus and once completed, advised me that there was a positive alert for the presence of narcotics,” Det. Rushford said. “During a search of the vehicle, more paraphernalia consistent with narcotics use was located.”
Detective Rushford stated that he asked Lawton for permission to look in her purse, which she allowed without issue, and no items of concern were found. He then asked Woodbury to empty his pockets, which he did without issue, and no items of concern were located.
“I then searched Pickup’s person and did not locate any items in his pockets, he was wearing a crossbody bag around his torso that had a keypad on it, showing that it was likely locked,” Det. Rushford said. “I asked him if there was anything inside of the bag and he asked me if I wanted to search it. He then removed it and handed it to me. I located a zipper on the back side of the bag, realized it wasn’t locked, and looked inside. I immediately observed a glassine bag with a white chunky substance consistent with crack cocaine. The rest of the bag did not contain any other illegal substances.”
Detective Rushford then asked Pickup to put his hands behind his back, which he did without issue, and he was placed in handcuffs.
Detective Rushford stated that he read Pickup his Miranda warnings from a card he carries on his person, and Pickup indicated that he understood.
“Pickup did not wish to talk to me further,” Det. Rushford said. “Pickup was transported to the Orange Police Department for booking by Officer Cakounes. I contacted Bail Commissioner [Marianne] Kissane who set bail for $15,000.00. Pickup was unable to come up with this amount and was later transported to the Franklin County House of Corrections for holding.”
The cocaine was weighed and found to be approximately 7.2 grams without packaging.
“It should be noted that during the booking process, Pickup called his sister, [name redacted], to inform her of his arrest,” Det. Rushford said. “During this phone call, Officer Cakounes heard [his sister] state something to the effect of, ‘Did they got all of it?’ to which Pickup replied ‘yeah.’”
Detective Rushford said that when he reviewed Pickup’s Board of Probation (BOP) record, he found out that Pickup had been found guilty in Orange District Court on June 18, 2019, for Possession of a Class B Substance, Subsequent Offense.
Michael Pickup was arrested and charged with the following:
- Possession of a Class B Substance, Subsequent Offense
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in October, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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