GARDNER — On Friday, December 19, 2025, Gardner Police Officer Bryant Powlowski was dispatched to the Cumberland Farms at 130 Main Street following a report of an unwanted person on the premises.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Bryant Powlowski and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“The calling party, a staff member at Cumberland Farms, said a group of people had been loitering and going in and out of the bathroom, exchanging backpacks,” Officer Powlowski said. “Upon arrival, I made contact with Avery [last name redacted] outside of the store. Avery was one of the male parties involved, according to Cumberland Farms staff.”
Officer Powlowski said that, at this time, Officer Joshua Willis and Dennis Siaw arrived on scene to assist.
“I went to make contact with the store staff to identify the other parties involved,” Officer Powlowski said. “While in the store, they pointed out a male party, later identified as Jason Brewer.”
According to police, Jason G. Brewer, 32, is a resident of Baldwinville, MA.
“At this time, I made contact with Jason and advised him that the store would like him removed. Jason complied and left the store lobby,” Officer Powlowski said. “While in the parking lot, I ran both male parties’ names over the radio to dispatch. The results came back that Jason had an active arrest warrant.”
Officer Powlowski said that as Officer Willis was placing Brewer in handcuffs, Brewer put his right hand in his pocket and began to tense up.
“I know this action to be typical of someone hiding some form of illegal contraband in a pocket, typically referred to as the ‘hot pocket,’” Officer Powlowski explained. “After removing Jason’s hand and placing him in handcuffs, I patted Jason down and felt what I knew from plain touch to be a bag containing a powder of some sort. As I felt this bag, Officer Willis pulled out a clear corner-cut baggie containing a white powder out of Jason’s left front pocket. I believe through my training and experience that the white powder in the corner-cut baggie to be cocaine.”
Officer Powlowski then reached into Brewer’s right front pocket and pulled out another corner-cut baggie containing the same white powdery substance, which he believed to be cocaine.
Police then escorted Brewer to the rear of a cruiser and conducted another search, during which they located another corner-cut baggie containing a small amount of a white chunky substance and a glass smoking pipe with white residue tucked into his pants.
“At the time of being taken into custody, Jason had a black cross-body bag around his chest,” Officer Powlowski said. “Upon searching the bag, a larger, tied sandwich bag was located containing a large amount of a white powdery substance. Through my training and experience, I believed the white powdery substance to be cocaine as well.”
Officer Powlowski said that multiple sandwich baggies and a scale were also found in the bag.
“I know through my training and experience that drug dealers typically carry a scale and baggies on their person to weigh and package their illegal narcotics for sale,” Officer Powlowski said.
After Brewer and his bag were searched, Officer Powlowski said his handcuffs were double locked and he was placed in the rear of the cruiser for transport to the Gardner Police Department for booking.
“Upon arrival at the Gardner Police Department, Jason was booked on his active warrant and possession of a class B controlled substance,” Officer Powlowski said.
After the booking process, Officer Powlowski said he ran a check of Brewer’s Board of Probation (BOP) record through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) database.
“It revealed Jason had an open case for possession of a Class B controlled substance from the date of July 25, 2025, as well as a case where he was found guilty of possession of a Class B controlled substance from the date of November 21, 2022,” Officer Powlowski said. Adding, “At this time, the charge of possession of a Class B controlled substance, subsequent offense, was added to Jason’s charges.”
Officer Powlowski reported that the baggies containing a white powdery substance, suspected to be cocaine, weighed approximately 52.62 grams on a department scale. A white chunky substance, suspected to be crack cocaine, weighed about 1.5 grams on the same scale.
According to Officer Powlowski, after being weighed, the substances were sealed in a clear evidence bag and secured in a temporary evidence locker to await processing.
Jason G. Brewer, 32, of Baldwinville, was charged with the following:
- Possess to Distribute Class B Drug
- Cocaine, Trafficking in 36 Grams or More, less than 100 Grams
- Possess Class B Drug, Subsequent Offense
Brewer was arraigned in Gardner District Court on Dec. 22, 2025, before Mark A. Goldstein, where bail was set at $100,000 surety or $10,000 cash, and he pleaded not guilty. Following his arraignment, Brewer was ordered held at the Worcester County House of Correction for not posting bail.
Brewer attended a pretrial hearing on Jan. 23, 2026, during which time Judge Goldstein allowed the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss the trafficking charge involving 36 to 100 grams of cocaine.
Brewer’s next court date is a continuation of the pretrial hearing scheduled for Feb. 5, 2026. He remains in custody.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the arrest in this story took place in December, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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