City auxiliary police officers – Jason Grunwald and Jonathan Jedlicka – became suspicious of a vehicle seen on Old Stage Road in the area of a former race track early Saturday morning and, when the dust had settled and their suspicions had been quenched, two Holyoke men had been arrested and a heavily damaged pickup truck had been discovered and removed.
City police report that when the auxiliary officers apprised the dispatcher of their concern, patrol officers were dispatched and officers David Racicot and Brian Freemen arrived at the scene of the incident within minutes of each other.
Racicot reports that a Holyoke man, Jorge Luis Mercado, 40, of 294 Elm St., was found to have been operating a 2000 Ford F150 pickup truck owned by Maria L. Ayala-Delgado of the same address who was a passenger in the vehicle. Alfonso M. Gutierrez, 50, of no fixed address in Holyoke, was also in the pickup.
Racicot later stated that another person could be heard moving away from the vehicle as he approached it.
Racicot reports that he observed there to be four mounted tires in the bed of the pickup along with empty bleach and sugar containers but Mercado declined to explain why the tires which would not fit the Ford or the other items were in the truck.
He reports that tire tracks in the sand nearby led officers into the pits area where a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck was found on blocks. Sugar and anti-freeze solution had apparently been poured into the vehicle’s gas tank and the body of the pickup had been doused with bleach.
Confronted with the Dodge truck, Mercado told police that he works at a Holyoke auto body shop and said a male party he knows only tentatively by a first name had asked him to destroy the vehicle so that he could pursue a fraudulent insurance claim. Mercado said that he had been offered the vehicle’s rims for his troubles.
The owner of the Dodge pickup was found to be a New Britain, Conn., resident and the dispatcher was asked to contact the police in that community.
Dispatcher Christine Gustafson reports New Britain police spoke with the owner who said that his truck had broken down in Holyoke, where his brother lives, and his brother has custody while he repairs it.
The Dodge was not reported to be stolen and was towed to the police impound yard.
Mercado and Guttierrez were each arrested for malicious damage to a motor vehicle.
Both are expected to be arraigned today in Westfield District Court.
