Springfield woman arrested for jumping on hood of car that honked at her during disturbance in Leominster

LEOMINSTER – On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, Leominster Police Officer Jonathan Ramos responded to 22B Terrace Drive following a report that a woman jumped on a vehicle and then fled the scene.

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

“Upon arrival, I searched the area for a female party who was described as a white female with blonde hair wearing all black and dark blue jeans,” Officer Ramos said.

Officer Ramos said he was unable to locate anyone matching the description and spoke with the reporting party who explained that the woman, later identified as Yaniris Braga, had been involved in a disturbance with a man inside a black BMW SUV.

According to police, Yaniris Braga, 24, is a resident of Springfield, MA.

Officer Ramos said the reporting party told him that Braga was trying to break into the BMW, which was parked near 37 Terrace Drive.

“Terrace Drive is a private way in the city of Leominster with a public right of access to get to the numerous apartment buildings located on the property,” Officer Ramos said.

As he saw Braga attempt to break into the BMW, the reporting party said he honked the horn of his vehicle.  

“[The reporting party’s] vehicle was stopped at this time, and Yaniris jumped on his hood,” Officer Ramos said. “Yaniris, when jumping on his hood, damaged the front bumper of his vehicle.”  

Officer Ramos said he observed that the bumper was detached from its normal mounting position near the wheel fenders.

“[The reporting party] confirmed he had just redone the front bumper, which was properly affixed to his vehicle prior to Yaniris damaging it,” Officer Ramos said. “Yaniris, while on the hood of [the reporting party’s] vehicle, was slapping it, and there were marks on the hood from them [i.e., the slaps]. These marks appeared consistent with defacement.”

The reporting party stated that when Braga got off of his vehicle, she ran behind a building.

Officer Ramos said that, during the incident, a female passenger was inside the reporting party’s vehicle and provided additional information about the events involving Braga.

When Officer Ramos inquired about the location of the BMW, the female passenger said that it was behind the building. He then located an unoccupied black BMW with Massachusetts license plates parked near building 37B.

“Shortly after locating the vehicle, [the female passenger] advised that Yaniris was right there, referring to the front of building 37B,” Officer Ramos said.

Officer Ramos said that as he approached Terrace Drive, Braga was trying to get into the backseat of a vehicle.

“I advised Yaniris she was not free to go,” Officer Ramos said. “I ordered the driver to stop the vehicle and ordered Yaniris out of the vehicle.”

Officer Ramos said that once Braga was out of the vehicle, she attempted to walk away from him.

“Yaniris inquired about the reason for my presence, which I informed her was vandalism,” Officer Ramos said. “I attempted to speak with Yaniris, but I determined her to be mostly uncooperative. Yaniris tried to hand me her belongings and requested I arrest her.”

Officer Ramos said that as he tried to get Braga out of the roadway and toward his cruiser, she continued “her uncooperative behavior” and requested a second time that he arrest her.

“I inquired as to what transpired,” Officer Ramos said. “Yaniris denied being in a disturbance with another male party and did not wish to report anything about that. Yaniris also did not wish to explain what transpired with [the reporting party’s] vehicle.”

At the time, Officer Ramos said he placed Braga under arrest for vandalism. She was then handcuffed and transported to the Leominster Police Department for booking.

“I was unable to locate the male party in the BMW or investigate that matter further, as no individuals involved knew his identity, and Yaniris did not wish to divulge any information regarding him,” Officer Ramos said.

Braga was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Sept. 29, 2026. Following her arraignment, she was released on $300 cash bail under the condition that she stay away from and not contact the victim(s).

Braga’s next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for Oct. 28, 2026.

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

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