ORANGE — The Orange Police Department recently took to social media to share information about a pair of incidents involving alleged thefts this month.
Two Fitchburg men face criminal charges, with more expected by the end of the week, after allegedly shoplifting in Orange on Friday, March 20, before leading authorities on a high-speed chase that ended when they crashed into two parked vehicles in Ashburnham. Additionally, an Orange man was arrested the week before for reportedly stealing $180 from the Quabbin Harvest Food Co-op.
Shoplifting and high-speed chase
William De Jese Rodriguez, 37, and Echevarria Torres, 42, both of Fitchburg, have pleaded not guilty in Orange District Court to various charges stemming from the incident that sent one of the suspects and a police officer to the hospital with minor injuries.
Rodriguez has been charged with single counts of shoplifting (third offense), possession of burglarious tools and conspiracy, while Torres faces charges of shoplifting by asportation (third offense), possession of a Class B substance (cocaine), conspiracy and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended/revoked license. He also had four warrants for his arrest.
According to a post on the Orange Police Department’s Facebook page, Sgt. Jonathan Cole and Detective Clay Rushford were dispatched to Tractor Supply Co. at 83 New Athol Road at roughly 10:30 a.m. on March 20 for a report of a shopping cart’s worth of tools having been taken. An employee had obtained a license plate number for the involved vehicle, which Cole located on Route 202.
Cole attempted a traffic stop, but the driver allegedly refused to pull over and led officers and state troopers on a pursuit on Route 2 heading eastbound, according to the Orange Police Department. All responding officers terminated the pursuit due to traffic conditions once the vehicle exited the highway in Westminster.
According to a statement from Ashburnham Police Chief Chris Conrad, his department’s officers spotted the vehicle driving at a high speed near the town line with Winchendon. These officers reportedly tried to stop the vehicle but it continued south on Route 12.
Stop sticks were deployed effectively on Route 12 in the area of Lashua Road. The vehicle continued to Main Street, losing control at the intersection of Main and Cushing streets. It reportedly struck several curbs and ran off the road in front of 85 Main St., where it struck two vehicles parked at St. Denis Church.
The vehicle’s two occupants, later identified as Rodriguez and Torres, fled on foot but were soon apprehended by Ashburnham Police and State Police.
Ashburnham Police Lt. John Boucher told the Greenfield Recorder on Tuesday that the incident is still under investigation and he anticipates more charges — reflecting every town affected by the high-speed chase — will be filed by the end of the week.
Unarmed robbery at Quabbin Harvest
Andrew Robinson, 42, of Orange, pleaded not guilty on Monday, March 16, in Orange District Court to one count of unarmed robbery.
Kelly Surprenant, the manager at Quabbin Harvest, recounted that she was at work on Friday, March 13, when Robinson walked in and asked for change for $100. She said she had opened the cash register and was counting $20 bills when Robinson “lunged across the counter and just tried to scramble out as much money as he could from the drawer.”
“I tried to prevent him from doing that and I chased him out the door,” she added. “But I stumbled … and fell and skinned my knee and kind of messed [it] up a little bit. I’m alright. I mean, I’ll live. It’ll take more than that to take me down.”
Surprenant said she found Robinson’s debit card on the ground after he fled on a bicycle down West Main Street, and she gave it to Orange Police Officer Kyle Johnson. She searched Robinson’s name on Facebook and confirmed for Johnson that he was the same man who had taken the money. Johnson, who had been dispatched with Officer Christopher Bisceglia, wrote in a police report that he recognized Robinson from previous encounters.
Bisceglia reportedly began to search the area for Robinson while Johnson was gathering information from Surprenant and another Quabbin Harvest employee. Bisceglia mentioned that, based on the timing and route Robinson took, the suspect would likely still be nearby. Johnson deployed K-9 Zeus, who used the debit card as a human scent article to track Robinson to the Orange Innovation Center.
According to his police report, Johnson checked the perimeter and inside the building for about 45 minutes before finding Robinson walking west on the railroad tracks and placing him in handcuffs. Johnson wrote in his report that he found $180 in cash (and the exact denominations stolen from Quabbin Harvest) on Robinson’s person before reading him his Miranda rights and transporting him to the Orange Police Station for booking.
Robinson allegedly told police that he had committed the robbery to get money for heroin, as he was getting sick without methadone, according to Johnson’s report.
Surprenant said the incident left her rattled and with minor injuries.
“I got kind of bruised from being pulled into the counter and the register,” she said, describing the experience as “jarring.”
She praised the professionalism of the responding police officers and said she has received support from the community.