BLACKSTONE – On Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, Blackstone Police Officers Patrick Daigle responded to Blackstone Street following a report of a white Camaro speeding and swerving all over the roadway.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Patrick Daigle and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“The calling party…told dispatch that a white Camaro was traveling at speeds of 70 mph,” Officer Daigle said. “It should be noted that Blackstone Street has a posted speed limit of 30 mph.”
Dispatch then informed responding units that the Camaro had turned onto Summer Street.
Officer Daigle said the reporting party also provided dispatch with the Camaro’s license plate number.
“The vehicle was last reported to be heading towards Bellingham,” Officer Daigle said. “I parked on Rennie Drive which intersects with Summer Street.”
While parked on Rennie Drive, Officer Daigle said he observed a white Camaro with the license plate number provided by the reporting party drive past his location.
“I pulled behind the vehicle as it came to the intersection of Summer Street and Park Street,” Officer Daigle said. “I was unable to notice if the Camaro came to a complete stop at the intersection prior to me coming up to it.”
Officer Daigle then proceeded onto Summer Street and observed the vehicle stall out on Elm Street.
“I entered Elm Street and the vehicle started to travel towards South Main Street in Bellingham, MA,” Officer Daigle said. “The vehicle started to go slow in the 30-mph zone and then sped up around a corner. While following the vehicle, I reached speeds of 60 mph to catch up to it. Once I was able to catch up to the Camaro, it now began to slow down and crossed the center double yellow lines.”
Officer Daigle said that when he observed the vehicle cross the double yellow lines again, he activated the emergency lights on his cruiser to conduct a motor vehicle stop.
“The vehicle started to slow down and then slowly pulled over to the right side of the roadway,” Officer Daigle said. “I exited my vehicle and approached the driver side door.”
Officer Daigle said he informed that driver that the reason for the stop was that he had crossed the center lines of the roadway.
“The operator was asked for his license and registration to which he provided me slowly, after taking a long, deep breath,” Officer Daigle said. “While speaking to the operator I observed his eyes to be moderately bloodshot and glossy. The operator told me that he did not know why he crossed the center lines. The operator was identified as Thomas Ferreira.”
According to police, Thomas M. Ferreira, 58, is a resident of Bellingham, MA.
“During my interaction, I could detect a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from breath and person,” Officer Daigle said.
Officer Daigle then relayed Ferreira’s information to dispatch and asked him why he was accelerating and decelerating, stalling out in the roadway, and crossing the yellow center lines.
“The operator put his hands up in an ‘I don’t know’ motion and could not give me a reason,” Officer Daigle said. “He also confirmed that he did stall out. I asked him how long he had been driving a motor vehicle with a ‘stick’ and he told me a long time.”
Officer Daigle then asked Ferreira to exit the vehicle so he could conduct Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs).
Ferreira again took a long, deep breath and slowly said, “Okay.”
Officer Daigle said Ferreira, who had a slight slur to his speech, was asked three times to exit the vehicle.
Ferreira then complied and took his time getting out of the vehicle, Officer Daigle said. Officer Daigle said Ferreira did not lean against the vehicle for support or balance while walking to the rear.
While Ferreira was standing at the rear of the car, Officer Daigle asked him to stay put while he turned off the front blue lights of his cruiser.
“I observed the male party lean back into the trunk area of his vehicle but then take a step forward and stand on his own,” Officer Daigle said. “With the front blue lights off, I conducted the following SFSTs.”
At around this time, Officer Daigle said Sergeant Greggory Haynes arrived on scene to assist as he was giving Ferreira the instructions for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test.
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.
“Using my pen in my right hand and a flashlight at an angle from my left, the operator performed the test while showing lack of smooth pursuit in both eyes, distinct and sustained nystagmus in both eyes, and no visible onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees,” Officer Daigle explained. Officer Daigle noted that Ferreira, who wears glasses for reading and driving at night but does not always need them, performed the test without wearing glasses.
The second test Officer Daigle asked Ferreira to perform was the walk and turn test, using the white fog line of the road as a guide.
The walk and turn test requires the individual to walk heel-to-toe in a straight line with their hands at their sides for about nine steps (counted out loud), then turn around and return to the starting point in the same way.
“The operator was instructed and shown to place one foot in front of the other as he was being provided the instructions. He said ‘okay,’ but failed to do so. I continued with the rest of the instructions while performing the test,” Officer Daigle said.
Officer Daigle said Ferreira failed to walk heel-to-toe on steps five and seven while moving forward and on every step while walking back. Ferreira also raised his hand on step seven while moving forward.
The third test Officer Daigle asked Ferreira to perform was the one leg stand. This test involves lifting one leg about six inches from the ground, while holding the foot in a position parallel to the ground, with arms kept at the sides, often while counting aloud.
Officer Daigle said that after explaining and demonstrating the test, Ferreira attempted to use his hands for balance, swayed while counting aloud to 11 and then placed his foot on the ground. (In his report, Officer Daigle did not specify what number he instructed Ferreira to count to.)
“He restarted his count, but placed his foot down on number three and continued on,” Officer Daigle said.
Officer Daigle said Ferreira stopped counting aloud after reaching 17 during his second attempt, noting that, Ferreira did not hop or sway for balance. After counting to 17, however, Ferreira then allegedly put his foot down and stumbled towards the center of the roadway.
The fourth and final test Officer Daigle asked Ferreira to take was a preliminary breath test.
“A preliminary breath test (PBT) was provided to the operator, which he blew into showing a PBT result of .113 percent,” Officer Daigle said. Adding, “Sergeant Haynes, who was on scene, was shown the result as well as the operator.”
Officer Daigle said that, at this time, he formed the opinion that Ferreira was driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
Officer Daigle said Ferreira was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Blackstone Police Department for booking.
While at the station, Officer Daigle said Ferreira consented to a chemical breath test and blew a blood alcohol concentration of .11 percent on the breath test machine.
Thomas M. Ferreira, 58, of Bellingham, was charged with the following:
- OUI-Liquor or .08%
- Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle
- Marked Lanes Violation
After he was booked, Ferreira was released on personal recognizance.
Ferreira’s arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 24, 2026, in Uxbridge District Court.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in August, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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