HAVERHILL — On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at approximately 10:49 p.m., Haverhill Police Detective Nova Castro was assigned to the Street Crimes Task Force patrolling the downtown area in plain clothes and an unmarked cruiser when he observed a vehicle with Massachusetts plates parked in front of 25 Washington Square.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Nova Castro and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
On the Essex Street side of 25 Washington Square, Detective Castro said he used the mobile data terminal in his cruiser to query the vehicle’s registration through the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) database. The query revealed that the registration had been revoked for lack of insurance and that the registered owner, later identified as Josef Leavitt, had a suspended driver’s license.
According to police, Josef M. Leavitt, 34, is a resident of Merrimac, MA.
“I observed Leavitt on his phone for several minutes while he waited for instructions on meeting someone,” Detective Castro said. Ater approximately 15 minutes, Detective Castro said Leavitt began to drive and turned right into the back parking lot of 25 Washington Square.
“I am aware that drug customers meet with drug dealers in parking lots to conduct drug transactions and avoid police detection,” Detective Castro said. “I turned into the parking lot and observed that a black SUV was leaving the parking lot heading toward Essex Street, and that [Leavitt’s vehicle] was leaving the parking lot in the opposite direction.”
Detective Castro said he followed Leavitt’s vehicle onto Emerson Street.
“I activated my unmarked cruiser’s blue lights and made a motor vehicle stop at the intersection of White Street and Pentucket Street,” Detective Castro said. “I approached the vehicle from the passenger side, identified myself to the operator and defendant Josef Leavitt, and informed him of the reason for the stop.”
Detectives Domenic Buccini and Andrew Terrero responded to the scene as backup.
Detective Castro said that while he was speaking with Leavitt, he observed a prescription bottle between the passenger side and the center console of the vehicle.
“I also observed two glass smoking pipes, one on the front passenger floor and one on the center console,” Detective Castro said. “I know based on my training and experience that those glass pipes are used to smoke crack cocaine.”
Detective Castro asked Leavitt if the prescription bottle belonged to him and he said it belonged to his girlfriend’s friend.
“I asked Leavitt to exit the vehicle, and I conducted an inventory search of the vehicle,” Detective Castro said. “During the inventory search, I found another pipe behind the passenger seat. Between the driver’s seat and the center console, I found two baggies, one containing a white powder consistent with Class B [drug] cocaine and one containing a tan powder consistent with Class A [drug] fentanyl. At that moment, I informed Leavitt that he would be placed under arrest.”
Detective Castro handcuffed Leavitt, read him his Miranda rights from a card he carries on his person, and asked him what was in those baggies.
“Leavitt stated that one was ‘coke and one was dope,’” Detective Castro said.
Leavitt was then transported to the Haverhill Police Department for booking.
“The vehicle was towed (registration plates removed and logged into evidence),” Detective Castro said. Later adding, “The drugs were collected and logged into evidence to be sent to the MSP [Massachusetts State Police] lab for testing and certification. The suspected cocaine weighed approximately 1.9 grams and the suspected fentanyl weighed approximately 4.6 grams.”
Josef M. Leavitt, 34, of Merrimac, MA, was charged with the following violations/offenses:
- Possess Class A Drug
- Possess Class B Drug
- Possess Class E Drug
- Operating Motor Vehicle with License Suspended
- Unlicensed Motor Vehicle
- Unregistered Motor Vehicle
Leavitt was arraigned in Haverhill District Court on July 29, 2026. Following his arraignment, Leavitt was released on personal recognizance under the condition that he submit to random drug screenings.
Leavitt’s next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for Sept. 23, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in July, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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