Fugitive Captured in Becket After Mass Pike Crash

Police from several agencies were able to capture a fugitive from justice in a lakeside cabin on Goose Pond in Becket Wednesday evening. 30-year-old Diego Martinez of Maine had 12 hours earlier crashed his car on the Massachusetts Turnpike and fled by foot.

According to a post on the Massachusetts State Police Facebook page, at approximately 7 a.m. on Tuesday patrols from State Police-Lee and State Police-Westfield responded to numerous calls reporting a single-vehicle crash on Route 90 eastbound in Becket. Witnesses reported that a man exited the vehicle after crashing and fled the scene on foot.

An investigation at the scene revealed that the operator of the vehicle was likely 30-year-old Diego Martinez, of Sabattus, Maine. Martinez was the subject of several extraditable warrants for his failure to appear in court on illegal drug and firearm possession offenses, as well as for criminal motor vehicle offenses.

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State Troopers with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police K9 Unit, the State Police Air Wing, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Becket Police patrols and a K9, and Lee Police conducted a thorough search of the area. Troopers, Officers and MSP and Becket K9 teams scouted the woods for several miles.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. Troopers received information that Martinez may have been in the area of Goose Pond, at which point numerous Troopers and Officers converged on the area. Lee Police Chief Craig Desantis transported Troopers and MSP K9 Emma on a boat to the area while numerous other Troopers and Officers walked along trails in order to approach from multiple angles.

At around 8:30 p.m. Troopers and Officers converged on a cabin at Goose Pond. Members of the search team observed the suspect on the front porch of the cabin. MSP K9 Trooper Norman Stanikmas, K9 Emma’s handler, issued warnings that Emma would be deployed to apprehend the suspect if he did not surrender, while he and other Troopers and local police officers advanced toward the porch.

Martinez surrendered without incident and was placed into custody. He was transported by boat to an MSP cruiser and transported to the State Police-Lee Barracks for booking where he was ordered to be held without bail pending his appearance at Great Barrington District Court. He is expected to be extradited to Maine where he will be brought before a judge for the aforementioned warrants.