A group of men who led Massachusetts State Police on a chase through Concord and into Norwood were arrested early Monday morning when a K9 was able to locate them after they fled into a residential neighborhood.
Michael Gonzalez, 33, of New Bedford, Angel Rodriguez, 50, of Fall River, and Yovaniell Sostre, 29, of Providence, are all facing a series of charges in connection with the pursuit, which State Police say involved a stolen vehicle.
At around 2:40 a.m. on Monday, Acton police asked State Police to be on the lookout for a stolen black Audi. Around the same time, Concord police saw the stolen car pull into a parking lot, three men exit the car and subsequently enter a gray BMW and drive off. Officers pursued the BMW for a “short distance” before ending the chase, State Police said in a statement.
A State Police trooper in the area saw the gray car speed past his cruiser on Route 2 east, and attempted to catch up to the car, which was heading toward Interstate 95 south. The trooper caught up to the vehicle and determined it had a license plate belonging to a 2008 Honda Pilot SUV, not a gray BMW sedan, State Police said.
The trooper attempted to pull the car over, but the driver refused to stop and continued to drive at a high speed, according to the statement. Troopers began pursuing the car, and deployed Stop Sticks to try and slow it down. The BMW hit the sticks, damaging its front tire. But, the damage did not stop the car and it continued along the interstate.
The car exited the highway, and the trooper saw the vehicle in the median, where it had come to a stop after hitting multiple traffic signs. The trooper then saw the car’s three occupants run into nearby woods, according to the statement.
State and Norwood Police subsequently created a perimeter around the woods and a nearby residential neighborhood. A K9 unit trooper and his partner also arrived to aid the search for the suspects, State Police said.
The trooper deployed the K9, Zigo, from the off-ramp of the highway, and the dog soon found a scent and tracked it up an embankment to the tree line where the three men had run off, State Police said. The dog’s intensity increased the farther up the hill he went, and he “continued to pull intensely along a deer fence.”
The dog stopped at an area along the fence that bordered a backyard and “showed intense interest” in the backyard, State Police said. Troopers entered the backyard, and the dog pulled them toward a gazebo, which was connected to a swimming pool deck. The dog “pressed his nose against the trim along the gazebo floor.”
Troopers pointed a flashlight at a small crawlspace between the ground and the gazebo floor and saw two of the men who had fled the BMW hiding. The two men were then arrested and identified as Gonzalez, who State Police say was driving the vehicle, and Rodriguez, a passenger.
Moments later, the K9 trooper learned that security camera footage from another home in the neighborhood showed a man trying to enter a motor vehicle parked in the driveway before running into a stretch of backyards when he could not get in, State Police said. Zigo, the K9, showed a “change in behavior and increased excitement” as he pulled troopers toward two air conditioning units located between two large bushes.
The third suspect, identified as Sostre, was found almost completely covered up in one of the bushes, according to State Police. Troopers pulled the man from the bush and arrested him.
Inside the BMW State Police say the three men stole officials found multiple tools, a crowbar, and a black mask.
Gonzalez is charged with failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, attaching plates, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license – subsequent offense, resisting arrest, speeding, leaving the scene of a crash that caused property damage, disorderly conduct, and possession of burglarious tools.
Rodriguez and Sostre are both charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and possession of burglarious tools. Sostre faces an additional charge of providing a fake name to police.
All three were arraigned in Waltham District Court.
Police do not believe the BMW was stolen.
