“An 18-year-old former New Bedford man indicted for the July 2023 shooting of a New Bedford Police detective was arrested this afternoon at Logan International Airport in Boston, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Denzel Gomes was arrested by Massachusetts State Police and New Bedford Police shortly after his flight from Portugal landed at the airport. The defendant was indicted last September on charges of Armed Assault to Murder, Attempted Assault and Battery with a Firearm, Assault and Battery with a Firearm, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon-Causing Serious Bodily Injury and Carrying an Illegal Firearm.

The defendant will be held in jail overnight and arraigned in Fall River Superior Court tomorrow morning.

The defendant is accused of shooting and injuring New Bedford Police Detective Lavar Gilbert, and another civilian, on July 17, 2023 at the intersection of Orchard and Rivet streets.

“I would like to thank the efforts of law enforcement agencies on the federal level who we worked closely with, including US Customs and Border Protection, the US Marshals and the ATF, for their persistence and follow through in helping us locate the defendant. I am pleased he has now been arrested and apprehended for this violent and lawless shooting that seriously injured detective Gilbert and injured another person,” District Attorney Quinn said.

An extensive grand jury investigation into the shooting, headed up by Assistant District Attorneys Shawn Guilderson and Matthew Sylvia and conducted jointly by Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to DA Quinn’s office and New Bedford Police Detectives, resulted in the September 28, 2023 indictment.

After the indictment was returned, it was determined that the defendant had already left the country.

With the assistance of the US Marshals, agents with the US Customs and Border Protection and ATF agents, investigators identified and located the defendant boarding a flight today bound for Boston. The defendant was arrested in Boston without incident.

Because the defendant has yet to be arraigned in open court on these charges, no further information about the facts of the case can be disseminated until he is arraigned tomorrow.

“I am very pleased to know that the fugitive responsible for injuring one of our detectives during a recent shooting is now in custody. I’m thankful for the combined efforts of our dedicated law enforcement community in capturing the suspect,” New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira said. “I would also like to acknowledge the particularly tenacious efforts of Detective Jordan Ferreira. This incident highlights the importance of unity between agencies and the relentless pursuit of dangerous criminals.”

All photos by by Carlos Pimental Felix:

Videos by Carlos Pimental Felix:

On January 30, we reported that 40-year-old Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kangethe, wanted in connection with killing 31-year-old Margaret Mbitu of Whitman, Massachusetts, was apprehended at a nightclub by Kenyan authorities.

Kangethe is suspected of stabbing Mbitu to death sometime between October 30 and November 4, 2023. then dumping her body in a garage at Logan Airport.

Massachusetts District Attorney Kevin Hayden said that his office was informed by federal officials that Kangethe escaped from police custody in Kenya. “It is our hope that Kenyan law enforcement will do their utmost to recapture Kangethe so that we can continue seeking justice for Margaret Mbitu and her family,” Hayden said.

Kangethe escaped the prison prison despite there being four officers on duty. The opportunity to escape was made possible when Kangethe was removed from his cell and placed in an office to meet with his attorney John Maina Ndegwa who had scheduled the meeting.

Nairobi Police Chief John Maina Ndegwa called Kengethe’s escape “embarrassing.” All four of the officers who were on duty have been arrested.

In a press conference, Mbitu’s family was livid at Kengethe’s escape. Mbitu’s cousin Joel Muhoro visibly angry with officials, said “I don’t have no words. They had him. They told us they had him and they let him walk out. So who can we trust?”

On Wednesday, February 14th, Authorities in Kenya said the man suspected of murder in Massachusetts was rearrested after he escaped local authorities a week earlier while awaiting extradition. They did not elaborate on the details of the arrest.

When news broke last week that Kangethe escaped prison, the family of Margaret Mbitu was devastated and many were exposing the Kenyan Police Department as being heavily corrupt.

Kangethe is expected to get sent back to the United States, and we will follow up with details as new information is released.

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“Fire Chief Jamie Desautels and Police Chief Richard DiPersio report that the Hudson Fire and Police Departments responded Tuesday to a two-alarm fire at the Department of Public Works’ fleet garage.

On Tuesday, Feb. 13, at about 5 p.m., emergency crews learned of a fire in the fleet garage, 1 Municipal Drive. Upon arriving, crews observed heavy smoke showing from the DPW garage.

On entry, crews encountered three large snow plows on fire. The snow plows and three other DPW vehicles were damaged. The building was significantly damaged and is not operational.

Hudson Fire Department photo.

No one was inside, and there were no injuries. A preliminary investigation found that the fire began in a sanding truck parked inside the garage. The fire does not appear to be suspicious.

The garage is located behind the town administration building, but that was not affected.

“We are grateful to all first responders who came to the scene and assisted in fighting the fire,” said Eric Ryder, Hudson Department of Public Works director. “Quick action by all made sure that the fire did not damage more equipment.”

On-scene mutual aid aid was provided by Marlborough, Northborough, Stow and Sudbury. Berlin and Clinton covered Hudson’s fire stations.”-Hudson Fire Department.

Hudson Fire Department photo.

Hudson Fire Department photo.

The following is an opinion sent to New Bedford Guide. It does not reflect the opinion of New Bedford Guide, nor is it an OP-ED. In fairness and objectivity, we share opinions from our readers whether we agree or disagree with their opinion.

Do you have a counter opinion to this opinion? Have an opinion about something else? Email us at info@newbedfordguide.com.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Undoubtedly the Supreme Court will rule that Donald Trump cannot be eliminated from the ballot by declaring that he is only presumptively guilty of inciting an insurrection or that the constitutional provision is not applicable in this circumstance.

But, the court can salvage its deteriorated status and save American democracy by immediately agreeing to hear the immunity appeal and expeditiously deciding that there is no absolute immunity for criminal or treasonous actions of a sitting or past president.

The nine justices, no matter their political or ideological inclinations are acutely aware that if Donald Trump were to regain the presidency the Supreme Court could be manipulated, obscured or consigned to irrelevancy. Their status has been significantly diminished since their assistance in the ascension of George Bush Jr. to the presidency and by the Citizens United opinion and other anti-democratic decisions. In their allegiance to the Federalist Society agenda, and to magnanimous friends and supporters they may grant Trump his immunity and thereby “hoist them on their own petards.”

And conversely, they could recreate and reactivate the respect formerly accorded the court by quickly, decisively and unanimously declaring that Donald Trump will not be protected nor insulated from conviction by relying on an autocratic immunity defense.”-Betty Ussach, Dartmouth.

“SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass. – Yarmouth Police Detectives stopped a car for speeding Monday afternoon near the Bass River Bridge.

During the stop, detectives observed signs of drug distribution and deployed a narcotics detection canine. K9 Gauge located a quantity of crack cocaine on the passenger, Jatee Burch, 20, of New Bedford. A spring assisted knife and a quantity of cash was also seized.

Burch was arrested and charged with Possession of Class B (crack cocaine) with Intent to Distribute and Carrying a Dangerous Weapon. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Barnstable District Court Tuesday.

The driver of the car was cited for speeding.

For further updates, please contact the Yarmouth Police Department’s PIO, Officer Nicholas Giammarco, 508-775-0445 x2136 ngiammarco@yarmouth.ma.us.”-Yarmouth Police Department.

Yarmouth Police Department photo.

“It’s not a part of the job description, nor is it in our protocols. It’s kindness and willingness to help someone who may need it.

Congrats to the crew of Medic 2 for showing what professionalism and public service look like. Shoveling a driveway goes a long way.

Thanks for showing everyone another side of New Bedford EMS.”-New Bedford EMS.

New Bedford EMS photo.

New Bedford EMS photo.

“Dartmouth, MA (February 13, 2024) – On Sunday, March 10, 2024, My Brother’s Keeper will be hosting Strikes for Hope, a bowling event for families, colleagues, and friends to support the mission of My Brother’s Keeper.

What: Strikes for Hope, bowling fundraising event.
Who: My Brother’s Keeper
Where: Hosted at Wonder Bowl, 66 Hathaway Rd, New Bedford, MA 02746
When: Sunday, March 10, 2024 (Two Sessions)

Family Bowl (12:00-2:00 PM) Cost: $25 Per Person, $75 Maximum for Families, $250 Family Lane Sponsorship.

Office Bowl (3:00-5:00 PM) Cost: $250 Corporate Lane, Corporate Sponsorships available

My Brother’s Keeper photo.

To Register: Family Bowl: www.mybrotherskeeper.org/strikes-for-hope

Office Bowl: www.mybrotherskeeper.org/strikes-for-hope-office
Contact: Amanda Dean, My Brother’s Keeper, Event Coordinator & Development Associate; 508-297-9050; adean@mybrotherskeeper.org

Please join our community of family, colleagues, and friends for an afternoon of bowling and fun, at our third annual Strikes for Hope event! All ages and skill levels are welcome.

Registration includes 2 hours of bowling, shoe rentals, event t-shirt, and pizza. During this event, we will host the Strikes for Hope Challenge, where a generous sponsor will contribute $25 to My Brother’s Keeper for each of the first 400 strikes thrown!

This event will support the organization’s core charitable programs of 36 years: furniture, food, and Christmas assistance. The mission of My Brother’s Keeper is “To bring the Love and Hope of Jesus Christ to those we serve.” My Brother’s Keeper provides assistance to more than 62,000 children and adults throughout the South Coast and Southeastern Massachusetts each year.

My Brother’s Keeper photo.

This is possible thanks to the generosity of community partners and the dedication of 20 staff and more than 5,000 volunteers working year-round to serve our community. All items are delivered free of charge and without pre-requisites—a critical service for residents without transportation, the elderly and disabled.

Demand for assistance in our community remains extremely strong. Strikes for Hope will not only raise funds to help My Brother’s Keeper provide as much assistance to families as possible, but also raise awareness of our great work in the South Coast region.

My Brother’s Keeper does not receive any local, state, or federal funding, and relies on private donations to serve the community. Another way to support our mission is by making a financial donation online. Visit www.mybrotherskeeper.org for details.

More about My Brother’s Keeper:
To donate or learn more about getting involved with My Brother’s Keeper, visit www.MyBrothersKeeper.org or call 774-305-4577.
If you live in a community we serve and need food assistance, please call the Dartmouth Helpline at 774-305-4590, or the Easton Helpline at 508-238-4416.”

A Massachusetts woman has taken the internet by storm after sharing her experience housing migrants in her own home. She is hosting a family of Haitian migrants and told reporters it is like having her own “personal chef” in the house.

Lisa Hillenbrand told NBC 10 Boston “They are hard-working, they want to learn, they want to be successful, and I feel great helping, and I get to understand the refuge crisis from the inside.”

This video sparked plenty of pushback on social media with many wondering why homeless American citizens and veterans aren’t getting this treatment and attention.

As the spouse of a legal immigrant, who spent 12 years following every law in this country, this is pretty sad. if only those people got the support and help they need. What about veterans and people who are citizens in need of a job?

— Michael Gates (@RecDawg34) February 13, 2024

WBZ Boston recently interviewed another family who is now housing 4 migrants in their home. “I gotta get sheets on the beds! How many are coming? Where are they from? What are their ages?” the woman eagerly said. Once she agreed to host, 4 migrants were dropped off at her house within 1 hour, which just shows how important of an issue the migrant housing crisis is becoming in Massachusetts.

It begins…

A woke couple in Massachusetts signed up to host illegal migrants in their home

Within an hour, 4 illegals were dropped off at their doorstep by the state

"I gotta get sheets on the beds! How many are coming? Where are they from? What are their ages? We knew… pic.twitter.com/Zo53SZ5eNa

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 11, 2024

Governor Healey and her administration began asking Massachusetts residents to host migrant families in their homes in 2023. Now in early 2024, it appears some residents are opening their homes.

Massachusetts Asks Citizens to House Migrants During State of Emergency

The Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Kim Driscoll, has appealed to citizens of the state to assist with an influx of migrants. This influx of migrants has caused a severe lack of shelter availability in… pic.twitter.com/tVHHdSaKhU

— justredpillme (@justredpillme) November 10, 2023

“On Monday, February 12, 2024, the Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP) Patrol Boat Thomas Paine was underway in Cape Cod Bay when they located this pod of critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW).

This patrol was part of the Massachusetts Environmental Police’s conservation efforts to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. The MEP vessels have also assisted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by tracking the locations of the migrating whales as they arrive in the waters of the Commonwealth.

Over the next two months the MEP vessels will continue their conservation efforts by tracking the NARW, ensuring all vessels abide by approach and speed restrictions around the whales and that all non-compliant vertical buoy lines are removed.

For more information go to fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale. “-Massachusetts Environmental Police.

Massachusetts Environmental Police photo.

Wood’s Hol Oceanographic Institution.NOAA photo.

“STORM UPDATE: Parking Ban, Trash Delay, City Offices Closed

• There will be a parking ban starting at 12 a.m. Tuesday. Visit the below link for a list of streets and areas that have single- and double-sided parking bans, as well as a list of public lots that are available during the parking ban.

• There will be a one-day delay in trash pickup for the remainder of the week. So if Tuesday if your trash day, it’s now Wednesday. If your trash day is Wednesday, it’s now Thursday, etc.

• City offices will be closed on Tuesday, Feb. 13, including City Hall, public libraries, senior centers, adult day care and the Buttonwood Park Zoo. New Bedford Public Schools also announced closure for Tuesday.

More Information on Snow Emergency Parking Ban/Double-Sided Parking Areas

While the snow emergency parking ban is in effect, parking is permitted on the north side of all streets going east and west, and is permitted on the east side of all streets going north and south. The permitted side of the street is typically the side opposite of the fire hydrants.

Please note that on streets that are normally posted for parking on one side of the street only, residents are to obey the signs as usual. Vehicles should never be parked within 10 feet of a fire hydrant or 20 feet from a corner as required by law, regardless of whether a snow ban is in effect.

To increase public safety during storm events, the areas designated for a double-sided parking ban include sections of numerous streets (listed below), in addition to the Downtown and Acushnet Avenue Business Districts, where double-sided bans have been implemented in years past. The street sections were selected because they are major routes for ambulances, school buses, and SRTA buses, and have a history of large vehicles being unable to successfully navigate due to the narrowness of the street.

During a snow emergency parking ban, therefore, no parking is permitted on either side of the street in the following areas:

• Wood St (Acushnet Ave to Belleville Ave)
• Acushnet Ave (Tarkiln Hill Rd to Coggeshall St)
• Nash Rd (Acushnet Ave to Belleville Ave)
• Ashley Blvd (Nash Rd to Coggeshall St)
• County St (Purchase St to Cove Rd)
• Cottage St (Durfee St to Union St)
• Mill St (Kempton St to Pleasant St)
• Kempton St (Brownell Ave to Pleasant St)
• The Downtown Business District (County St to JFK Blvd, Kempton St to Walnut St)
• Dartmouth St (Allen St to Matthew St)
• Rivet St (Dartmouth St to JFK Blvd)

The City of New Bedford has designated the following areas as preferred parking areas for residents in need of off-street parking while the emergency snow parking ban is in effect:

• Victory Park – Brock Avenue
• Hazelwood Park – Brock Avenue
• Cove Street Parking Lot – Cove Street and Morton Court
• Orchard Street at Camara Soccer Field
• Buttonwood Park Parking Area – Hawthorn Street Side and Lake Street Side
• Coggeshall Street Parking Lot – Coggeshall Street and Acushnet Avenue
• Sawyer Street Parking Lot – Between Sawyer Street and Beetle Street
• Brooklawn Park Parking Area – Brooklawn Street (South Side)
• Riverside Park Lot – Coffin Avenue
• Coffin Avenue Lot- Across from Taber Mills Apartments
• Former AVX site on Belleville Avenue at Hadley Street
• Former Phillips Avenue School – 24• 9 Phillips Avenue
• Elm Street Garage
• Zeiterion Garage – 688 Purchase Street
• New Bedford High School – 230 Hathaway Boulevard
• Keith Middle School – 225 Hathaway Boulevard
• Normandin Middle School – 81 Felton Street
• Roosevelt Middle School – 119 Fredrick Street
• Charles S Ashley Elementary School – 122 Rochambeau Street
• Elizabeth Carter Brooks Elementary School – 212 Nemasket Street
• Elwyn G Campbell Elementary School – 145 Essex Street
• Sgt Wm H Carney Academy Elementary School – 247 Elm Street
• Lot at intersection of Elm and Cottage (Southeast Corner)
• James B Congdon Elementary School – 50 Hemlock Street
• John B DeValles Elementary School – 120 Katherine Street
• Alfred J Gomes Elementary School – 286 South Second Street
• Ellen R Hathaway Elementary School – 256 Court Street
• Hayden/McFadden Elementary School – 361 Cedar Grove Street
• Horatio A Kempton Elementary School – 135 Shawmut Avenue
• Abraham Lincoln Elementary School – 445 Ashley Boulevard
• Carlos Pacheco Elementary School – 261 Mt. Pleasant Street
• John Avery Parker Elementary School – 705 County Street
• Casmir Pulaski Elementary School – 1097 Braley Road
• Thomas R Rodman Elementary School – 497 Mill Street
• Former William H Taylor Elementary School – 620 Brock Avenue
• Current William H Taylor Elementary School – 71 Portland Street
• Jireh Swift Elementary School – 2203 Acushnet Avenue
• Betsey B Winslow Elementary School – 561 Allen Street

Sand Available to City Residents at Several Locations

The Department of Public Infrastructure has made sand available to city residents at several locations throughout the city. Residents are advised to bring their own small container to collect the sand at any of the following locations:

• Corner of Liberty Street and Smith Street
• Brooklawn Park parking lot, next to Brooklawn Senior Center
• Parking lot at 773 South 1st Street, across from Dennison Memorial Community Center.”-City of New Bedford.