DOUGLAS — On Friday, January 9, 2026, at approximately 11:09 p.m., Officer Christopher Johnson of the Douglas Police Department was dispatched to the intersection of Wallum Lake Road and Birch Hill Road following a report of a hit and run involving two vehicles.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Christopher Johnson for the incident and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Officer Johnson said dispatch informed him that the reporting party had reported minor vehicle damage and no injuries. Dispatch also relayed that the reporting party had recorded the incident on his phone and obtained the suspect vehicle’s license plate number.
Upon arriving at the scene of the crash, Officer Johnson said he identified the calling party as Austin Perry, who was driving a yellow tow truck registered to Anything Automotive Inc.
Officer Johnson said Perry told him that he was towing a vehicle from one of the adjacent side streets.
“Perry stated he was driving east on Birch Hill Road when he saw a red Dodge Ram make a wide right turn off Wallum Lake Road onto Birch Hill Road,” Officer Johnson said. “Perry said he then stopped his vehicle because it appeared the red Ram was going to strike his vehicle.”
Perry said the Dodge Ram’s front left bumped struck his vehicle’s front left bumper, scraping it.
Officer Johnson said Austin stated that he never moved his vehicle after it was struck and that there was ample room for a vehicle to turn onto Birch Hill Road and pass the tow truck.
“Perry stated he told the driver he hit his vehicle and that he was going to call the police. Perry said when he
mentioned the police, the other driver left the area,” Officer Johnson said. “After initial confusion about the direction of travel, Perry eventually informed me the vehicle continued west on Birch Hill Road. Perry provided a video on his cell phone. I was able to identify the operator of [license plate number redacted] as the owner, Randy Manyak, from previous interactions.”
According to police, Randy Vincent Manyak, 59, is a resident of Douglas, MA.
“In the cell phone video, Perry mentioned a dashboard camera. Perry told me the camera was inoperable because it was missing a memory card,” Officer Johnson said. “Perry said he believed Manyak was drunk as he was stumbling and slurring his speech.”
Officer Johnson said he checked multiple side streets for Manyak with no success.
“I then located Manyak’s vehicle in the driveway of 121 Shore Road,” Officer Johnson said. “The vehicle was photographed and I observed a small scratch on the front left bumper. Manyak stated he did not wait for police because the other driver ‘was a dick.’ Manyak was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. Due to the time delay in locating Manyak, he was advised he would receive a citation solely for leaving the scene of property damage. Manyak said he lives at 121 Shore Road but gets his mail at [# redacted] North Street.”
Randy Vincent Manyak, 59, of Douglas, was issued a Massaschusetts Uniform Citation and a summons for the following:
- Leaving the Scene of Property Damage
Manyak’s arraignment was scheduled for the morning of Jan. 12, 2026, in Uxbridge District Court.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in January, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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