A third man was arrested Monday in connection with an August incident in which suspects fired gunshots at Rumford police following a chase, federal authorities said.
Federal investigators took Luis Jose Nivar Cabral, 24, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, into custody in that city on a FBI arrest warrant related to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Two other men, Joseph Allen Denbow Jr., 33, and Troy Scott Murch Jr., 38, both of Norway, were arrested in late August on charges including eluding an officer and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
Cabral, who FBI agents said is a member of the Trinitario street gang in northern Massachusetts, has routinely traveled to Maine since at least August to sell controlled substances, including fentanyl, according to the FBI affidavit.
In connection to his drug trafficking activity, Cabral has carried out at least three home invasions in Maine, including one in Woodstock, as well as a high-speed chase with police, during which Cabral and his associates repeatedly fired on pursuing officers, the affidavit says.
On the evening of Aug. 15, Rumford officers were surveilling a house on Eaton Hill Road in Rumford where illegal drugs were known to be sold when they spotted and then tried to stop the speeding car Cabral was in, the affidavit said.
Police pursued the vehicle in two marked police cruisers. One of the officers following about 50 yards behind the car realized he was being fired at by individuals in the car.
Police also observed a rifle being thrown out the window of the car and recovered it later.
The pursuit continued through Rumford with the car exceeding speeds of 90 mph, the affidavit said, and the individuals continued to fire at police. One cruiser became disabled. Officers found the car on the side of South Rumford Road near Big Rock Lane, apparently abandoned.
The morning of Aug. 16 officers initiated a plain view search of the car, a Dodge Charger. They saw that the back window of the Charger had been shot out, noted the presence of shell casings belonging to a .223-caliber rifle in the rear seat and three cellphones within the passenger compartment, the affidavit said.
Police also recovered near the abandoned Charger a black ski mask, black cotton gloves, a black hooded sweatshirt littered with broken glass, three additional cellphones, a knife, and a black backpack containing about $300. Additionally, police recovered a red zip-up cloth bag containing substances that field-tested presumptively positive for about 167 grams of fentanyl, 51 grams of cocaine and 21 grams of crack cocaine, according to affidavit.
Law enforcement completed a warrant search of the Charger on Aug. 21 and recovered spent shell casings, ammunition, gloves, zip ties, a .22-caliber rifle, a 9 mm pistol, and jewelry.
Early on Aug. 16, the complaint said, police encountered an individual walking northbound on state Route 232, not far from where the Charger was abandoned. The FBI complaint does not indicate whether the individual was Denbow or Murch.
The individual, according to the complaint, acknowledged they had been in the car with four other men, including three Hispanic men. He told authorities he did not know the real names of the Hispanic men in the back seat, though he knew one of the men as “Jose.”
According to the complaint, the individual acknowledged that on the day of the chase he drove with the other men to a drug house.
He told investigators that he and the other Norway man stayed in the car while the three Hispanic males went into the house, according to the affidavit. A short time later the three returned with drugs and guns.
The victims of the home invasion informed police that on the night of Aug. 15, three Hispanic males and a white male entered the house and held the occupants at gunpoint. The assailants were carrying AR-15 style rifles and were dressed in black ski masks and black hoodies. The assailants allegedly stole phones, jewelry and wallets before leaving in the Charger.
When a police officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the three men told the co-conspirator to flee and threatened to shoot the second conspirator if he did not comply, the individual told police.
Massachusetts State Police arrested Cabral on an active court warrant on Aug. 31 from Lowell District Court. Cabral allegedly was in the possession of eight identification cards for persons other than himself.
He had his initial appearance in Boston on Monday on the federal charge. He will eventually be transferred to Maine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maine will prosecute the case.
