LEICESTER – On Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, at approximately 6:30 a.m., Leicester Police Officer Joshua Paradiso was dispatched to Davis Auto Repair at 1655 Main Street following a report of a man in an RV who did not have permission to be on the property.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Joshua Paradiso and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Officer Jacup Roberts also responded to the scene.
“An employee of Davis Auto Repair arrived to work and observed the lights on and the door ajar on a vehicle,” Officer Paradiso said.
When the employee approached, he observed a male, described as wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, standing in the doorway of an RV. The man then ran out of the RV toward Main Street.
“The Davis Auto Repair employee stated that all vehicles were secured prior to them leaving the night before, so for any to access them would require manipulation of some sort,” Officer Paradiso said.
Officer Paradiso said that as he arrived in the area, he observed a man wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up walking west on Main Street near 1621 Main Street.
“I stopped and asked the male his name and he stated ‘Joao,’” Officer Paradiso said.
Officer Paradiso said he detained the man until Officer Roberts arrived on scene.
“Upon a search for weapons, I observed a pocket knife in his left pants pocket, as well as a glass pipe burnt at both ends with a residue inside,” Officer Paradiso said. “Through training and experience I determined this to be consistent with an apparatus used to smoked drugs.”
Officer Paradiso said that during shift change, at the beginning of his shift, he was made aware of a call from second shift regarding a shoplifter who had eluded police in the woods behind Davis Auto Repair.
“Multiple backpacks and personal items were recovered,” Officer Paradiso said. “Some of those items had the name Joao Gomes. I search through CJIS [Criminal Justice Information System] matched the Joao I had in custody.”
Joao M. Gomes, 49, of Brockton, MA, was charged with the following:
- Misdemeanor Breaking & Entering
- Trespass
Gomes was arraigned in East Brookfield District Court on Sept. 11, 2026. Following his arraignment, he was released on $1,000 cash bail.
Gomes’ next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for Oct. 6, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place earlier this month, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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