Tyngsborough man accused of weaving through Westford traffic on motorcycle during police pursuit faces 10 charges

WESTFORD — On Friday, April 3, 2026, at approximately 9:14 p.m., Westford Police Officer David Short was traveling south near 31 North Street when he observed two motorcycles riding side by side at a high rate of speed in the northbound lane.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Statement of Facts of Officer David Short and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

“My front moving radar showed the motorcycles traveling 46 mph in a posted 30 mph zone,” Officer Short said. “I activated my emergency lights and sirens as the bikes were approaching me. I had my window down and heard the motorcycles begin to accelerate away from me.”

Officer Short said he observed the black motorcycle accelerate northbound on North Street as he turned around. He estimated the motorcycle was traveling approximately 50 mph after it passed him.

“I observed the motorcycle accelerate and pass several vehicles that were pulling over to the shoulder on North Street that were yielding to my emergency lights, the motorcycle continued to drive past these vehicles,” Officer Short said. “I estimate that the motorcycle overtook at least four vehicles on North Street, which created a risk to other drivers by him swerving around other vehicles at a high rate of speed.”

Officer Short said he observed the motorcycle cross the solid double yellow lines as it exited North Street and began turning westbound onto Groton Road. He said the motorcycle then pulled to the left of another vehicle and entered Groton Road at the same time as that vehicle, rolling through the stop sign instead of stopping before entering Groton Road.

“The other motorcycle appeared to turn off its lights and head eastbound on Groton Road,” Officer Short said. “I finally got directly behind the motorcycle in the area of 117 Groton Road, where the motorcycle began to slowly pull over to the right shoulder of the roadway.” Officer Short noted the area of 31 North Street is approximately 0.7 miles from 117 Groton Road.

“I opened my cruiser door and shouted commands at the motorcycle operator,” Officer Short said.

Officer Short said he observed that the motorcycle was a Yamaha with a New Hampshire registration that had expired on Dec. 31, 2025. The expired registration was later confirmed through dispatch.

“I told the operator to turn off the bike and to not move. He took off his helmet and I approached him and placed him into handcuffs,” Officer Short said. “I then advised dispatch that I had the male party detained. I also requested additional units to the scene. I escorted him to the front of my cruiser and read him his Miranda rights off of a standardized card. The operator identified himself as Timothy Collette.”

According to police, Timothy J. Collette, 36, is a resident of Tyngsborough, MA.                     

“Timothy immediately stated that the motorcycle was not his and that it is not registered,” Officer Short said. “Timothy stated that he has no license at the moment and does not have a motorcycle endorsement. I asked Timothy where his friend went and who he was. Timothy declined to give me any of his friend’s information.”

At around this time, Officer Matthew Laverdure, Officer John Lincoln and Sergeant Steven Keins arrived on scene.

“I asked Timothy if he had seen my lights and heard my sirens,” Officer Short said. “Timothy stated that he did not.”

Officer Short said he then explained to Collette that he had passed several vehicles and accelerated away from him after he activated his emergency lights — before Collette had even passed him — making it unlikely that Collette did not hear or see him.

“While speaking with Timothy, I detected a heavy slur in his speech and observed his eyes to be bloodshot and glassy. Timothy had a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath while speaking to me,” Officer Short said. “Timothy stated that he had not consumed any alcohol tonight.”

Officer Laverdure observed a bulge in Collette’s Carhartt jacket and asked for Collette’s consent to remove the item from his pocket.

Collette agreed, and Officer Laverdure removed eight 50-milliliter Smirnoff Spiced Root Beer nips from his jacket pocket. Two of the nips still had residual alcohol at the bottom.

“Timothy provided his full name and date of birth to me which I then ran in CJIS [the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services database],” Officer Short said. “I observed that Timothy currently had a suspended Massachusetts license status since February 2, 2022, for accumulation of convictions or points, and also had a suspension for OUI Liquor 2nd offense since July 20, 2024.”

Officer Short said dispatch confirmed that Collette’s license was suspended.

“I exited my cruiser and began to conduct field sobriety tests with Timothy. Timothy was rocking back and forth while standing and I removed him from handcuffs,” Officer Short said. “Timothy stated that he had a prior heel injury and lifted up his pant leg, which revealed a swollen ankle and foot. I asked Timothy if he thought he could perform any of the physical tests. Timothy stated that he did not think he could. I asked Timothy if I could check his eyes for horizontal gaze nystagmus. Timothy stated that I could check his eyes.”

According to findlaw.com, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test is a field sobriety test where an officer has an individual follow an object (such as a pen tip or pen light) with his/her eyes. The HGN test checks for the involuntary jerking of one’s eyes as they gaze side to side. This involuntary jerkiness is said to increase while under the influence of alcohol.

“I had Timothy place his hands down at his side and his feet together,” Officer Short said. “I asked Timothy if he had ever been diagnosed with nystagmus. Timothy stated that he had not. Timothy stated that he was not wearing contacts but typically wears glasses. Timothy stated that he had sustained a prior eye injury in his right eye that had hurt his optic nerve. I utilized my finger and held it out approximately 12-15 inches away from Timothy’s face. The front facing cruiser lights were turned off to complete the test. I checked Timothy’s eyes for equal tracking and equal pupil size. Timothy’s eyes appeared to track equally and his pupils were equal size. I checked for lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation and onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees. I observed all of these in each eye for a total of 6/6 clues. I also observed vertical nystagmus.”

The second field sobriety test Officer Short asked Collette to perform was the finger to nose test.

“I instructed Timothy to stand with his feet together, arms extended out to the sides and to alternate touching the tip of his nose with the top of each finger upon my command,” Officer Collette said. “I demonstrated the test and ensured Timothy understood the instructions. During the test, I observed Timothy use the middle of his index finger to touch the tip of his nose when using his left hand. When he used his right hand, he touched the middle of the bridge of his nose with the tip of his index finger several times. While taking this test, Timothy also exhibited lack of smooth coordination with his hands and he swayed back and forth.”

The third field sobriety test Officer Short asked Collette to perform was the lack of convergence test.

“I instructed the operator to stand still and face me. I held my finger approximately 12-15 inches in front of his face and instructed him to follow my finger with his eyes only,” Officer Short said. “I slowly moved the stimulus toward the bridge of Timothy’s nose. As the stimulus approached, Timothy’s eyes failed to converge and one eye drifted outward.”

Officer Short said that, at this time, he formed the opinion that Collette was under the influence of alcohol and placed him under arrest. He then searched Collette and placed him in the rear prisoner compartment of his cruiser.

“Officer Laverdure remained on scene and conducted a motor vehicle inventory of the motorcycle. Christopher’s Towing arrived on scene and took possession of the motorcycle,” Officer Short said. “I transported Timothy to the Westford Police Department without incident. When removing Timothy from the rear of my cruiser, I detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage that was not present prior to Timothy being in there.”

Collette was searched again by Officer Short in the booking area in the presence of Lieutenant Timothy Hughes.

“Lieutenant Hughes booked Timothy and provided him all applicable rights,” Officer Short said. “Timothy was read his statutory rights and consent form by Lieutenant Hughes. Timothy consented to an evidentiary breath test. Lieutenant Hughes then administered the Alcotest 9510 (Serial #ARBF-0146). The results revealed that Timothy’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.22% from sequential test #1139.”

Officer Short said a review of Collette’s Massachusetts Board of Probation history showed that he had two prior OUI offenses on his record: one out of Lowell District Court that resulted in a continuance without a finding on Sept. 29, 2015, and an OUI liquor second offense case, also out of Lowell District Court, for which he was found guilty on Nov. 3, 2023.

“Timothy also has six prior previous operating after suspension charges from 2010 to 2021, all of which were dismissed,” Officer Short added.

“Timothy was provided the opportunity to be released on bail for $500 by Bail Commissioner Charlene McCormack,” Officer Short said. “Timothy was unable to come up with the money for bail. I later transported Timothy to Middlesex House of Corrections.”

Collette was arraigned in Ayer District Court on April 6, 2026. Following his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance under the condition that he not consume any alcohol, submit to two SCRAM (ankle monitor) screens a day, and not drive without a valid license.

Collette attended a pretrial hearing on May 5, 2026. His next court date is a discovery, compliance and election hearing scheduled for June 26, 2026.

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

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