LEICESTER โ On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at around 11:50 a.m., Sergeant Matthew Brady of the Leicester Police Department was on plainclothes patrol in an unmarked cruiser when he received a call from Spencer Police Detective William Bartlett.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Sergeant Matthew Brady and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Detective Bartlett told him that he and Spencer Officer Kyle Lareau had located a vehicle at Leroux Liquors, which is located at 1044 Main Street in Leicester, that was the subject of a search warrant connected to a firearms investigation.
“The subject of that investigation was Zachary Victor of Spencer,” Sergeant Brady said.
According to police, Zachary G. Victor, 36, is a resident of Spencer, MA. Court documents indicate he’s married and self employed.
“I had previously been made aware of this investigation and I knew that it related, at least in part, to Mr. Victor having had his firearms license suspended by Spencer police and that department having received information that Mr. Victor did not surrender all of his firearms,” Sergeant Brady said. Later adding, “I radioed Officer Ives Fisher to respond to the scene and I also began responding.”
When Sergeant Brady arrived at Leroux Liquors, he said he observed Victor’s vehicle, a blue Cadillac Escalade with Massachusetts plates, was parked in the lot and there were two males with Spencer police.
“This included Mr. Victor and his passenger, who was positively identified as Zachariah [last name redacted] of Leicester,” Sergeant Brady said.
Sergeant Brady said he initially stood by and observed while Spencer police conducted their investigation.
“While doing so, I observed Detective Bartlett ask Mr. Victor where a particular firearm was,” Sgt. Brady said. “Mr. Victor told him that it was with a friend in Charlton who works on firearms. Detective Bartlett then obtained a phone number from Mr. Victor for this person and called them. This person told Detective Bartlett that this was not true, that he never had the firearm and that he does not work on guns.”
Sergeant Brady said he then assisted Spencer police as they searched the vehicle.
“Upon opening the front passenger side door, I observed several spent rifle cartridges in the door pocket,” Sgt. Brady said. “I then consulted with Spencer police and went back to the Leicester Police Department so that I could retrieve a camera and assume photography duties.”
Sergeant Brady said that when he returned to the scene, the search was still underway and Officer Lareau pointed out a small vial found between the center console and the driverโs seat.
“Inside this vial was a small quantity of a white powder substance that I identified through my training and experience as a suspected user quantity of cocaine,” Sgt. Brady said.
Sergeant Brady said Officer Lareau also found a small copper tube with white powder residue, which Sergeant Brady identified, based on his training and experience, as suspected cocaine residue. He said the tube appeared to be consistent with paraphernalia used to snort cocaine.
“Leicester Police Detective Travis McCauley arrived on-scene and also assisted in the search of the vehicle,” Sgt. Brady said. “As the search continued, Detective McCauley observed a camouflage backpack located on the floor between the second row captain seats.”
Within the bag, Detective McCauley located the following:
- A nicotine-pouch container holding six unspent .38 Special +P rounds of ammunition
- A tan-colored tactical rig containing an empty gun holster, magazine pouches, a knife, a compass, ะฐ glow stick, a battery supply charger, and a tactical light
- “Through my training and experience, I recognized that this is equipment that is commonly referred to as a ‘tactical kit’ or ‘kit,'” Sgt. Brady explained.
Sergeant Brady said that, on the tan-colored, tactical rig, Detective McCauley located the following:
- A plastic case containing 31 unspent rounds of Stinger .22LR ammunition
- Three unspent 12-gauge shotgun rounds
“Detective McCauley also located a piece of tactical body armor known as a ‘plate carrier,'” Sgt. Brady said.
On the plate carrier, the detectives located the following, according to Sergeant Brady:
- A rifle magazine containing five .300 Blackout rounds
- A Ruger handgun magazine containing six rounds of 9mm ammunition
Sergeant Brady said he then spoke to Zachariah, who said the backpack did not belong to him and that he did not know about the cocaine in the vehicle.
“I advised Officer Fisher to place Mr. Victor under arrest, which he did,” Sergeant Brady said. “He was placed in the rear of Officer Fisher’s cruiser and transported to the Leicester Police Department where he was booked, photographed, fingerprinted, and given all applicable rights. The on-call bail commissioner, Mr. Chris Hart, was later contacted and set bail at $50,000. Mr. Victor was later transported to the Spencer Police Department for holding.”
Sergeant Brady said that, before he was transported from the scene, Victor gave Zachariah permission to drive his vehicle.
“[Zachariah] brought it to my attention that he had been drinking and did not want to get in trouble for operating under the influence,” Sgt. Brady said. “I requested Officer Brooks to the scene, who arrived with a portable breath test (PBT), which I administered to [Zachariah]. This read .087% BAC, so [Zachariah] agreed to get permission from the property owner to leave the vehicle there and retrieve it later.”
Zachary G. Victor was arrested and charged with the following:
- Possess Class B Drug
- Possess Ammunition without FID Card
- Witness/Juror/Police/Court Official, Intimidate
Victor was arraigned in East Brookfield District Court on Sept. 18, 2025. During his arraignment, Judge Maura McCarthy reduced the bail commissioner’s $50,000 bail to $1,000 cash.
Following his arraignment, Victor was released on bail under the condition that he possess no firearms, abstain from drugs, and submit to random screens.
Victor attended a pretrial hearing on Oct. 14, 2025, which was continued to Oct. 22, 2025.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in September, thatโs because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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