Attorneys of the former Brockton police chief argued for a second time to have his negligent driving case dismissed.
The criminal charge against Emanuel Gomes stems from a three-vehicle wreck he caused in his department vehicle in May 2021.
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The police chief did not receive any citations for the crash, and it flew under the radar for months until an NBC10 Boston investigation revealed details about what happened.
A private citizen with no connection to the crash later pursued a charge against Gomes.
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A hearing took place last July and the clerk magistrate ruled there was probable cause for the negligent driving charge to go forward. Gomes was arraigned last September in a case moved to Worcester to avoid a conflict of interest.
On Tuesday, Gomes’ attorney, Georgia Petropoulous, argued there was no probable cause to support the case rising to a criminal level.
“The troopers’ conclusion that the case wasn’t negligent should be respected,” Petropoulos said. “So basically there were trained professionals. There were several troopers, as you can see, that showed up and no one deemed it as anything but an accident.”
Investigations
However, Worcester County prosecutor Dannon Stacer said the motion to dismiss should be denied.
“This isn’t a situation where it’s a minor fender bender and an accident could’ve been an accident,” Stacer said. “This is a pretty significant crash, Judge, and I suggest the only explanation could’ve been negligence.”
Judge Steven Power said he would review the arguments and make a decision at a later date. The Worcester County judge previously denied a separate motion to dismiss under the state’s “no-fix” statute, which requires police officers to provide a copy of the citation to a driver at the time and place of a violation.
According to the Massachusetts State Police crash report, Gomes' vehicle was traveling on the on-ramp from Interstate 495 to get onto Route 24 northbound.
For an unknown reason, the report said the chief veered off the ramp and struck a vehicle in the breakdown lane before side-swiping another car and causing it to flip on its side.
Three adults and a toddler went to the hospital after the wreck. The police chief refused medical treatment and got a ride home with a tow truck driver. The crash does not appear on his RMV driving record.
City leaders told NBC10 Boston that Gomes was on his way to the scene of a drowning on that Saturday night. However, they never disclosed the incident to residents.
Brockton's mayor defended the city's handling of the crash, saying it "followed all appropriate procedures" when NBC10 Boston reported the story last May.
Gomes retired in January 2022 after a 36-year year career with the police department and is now collecting a pension of $156,130. He is currently due back in court in August.
"In this case, the system worked," said Patrick Donovan, a criminal defense attorney who has followed the case. "It was designed that if you're not getting recourse in the police department, you have the right to go to the courthouse. Obviously, it's shocking that the chief was not cited on the scene, walked away, and months went by with no action."
Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
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