Busy Shift for Auto Theft Trooper Leads to 3 Arrests, 2 Stolen Cars

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Keller Williams, who is assigned to the Governor's Auto Theft Strike Force, had a busy four-hour span in Springfield Tuesday, arresting two suspects caught in stolen Nissans and finding and apprehending another man wanted for a host of violent offenses.

At 10:30 a.m., Trooper Williams backed up a Springfield Police officer who was following a stolen Nissan Maxima. When the two people bailed out of the car, Trooper Williams observed one of them running through a backyard on Gordon Street. The trooper chased the suspect through several backyards and over a fence, finally apprehending him on the front steps of a home at 40 Scott St. There, the trooper and a Springfield officer arrested the suspect, 14-year-old Springfield boy. The boy was booked at the Springfield police station for receiving a stolen motor vehicle and failure to stop for police.

Around noon, Trooper Williams monitored a police broadcast about a white Toyota Camry that Springfield police were seeking. The alert noted that the Camry was being driven by LAMAR STEVENSON, 31, of Springfield, who was wanted on warrants charging him with kidnapping, aggravated assault, assault and battery, assault, and intimidation of a witness. A short time later, Trooper Williams spotted the Camry travelling on Wilbraham Avenue and followed it to Colonial Avenue, where the driver got out. Trooper Williams stopped the driver on foot and identified him as STEVENSON. Local police then arrived on scene took custody of the suspect.

Trooper William's shift was not over yet. At 2:30 p.m., while waiting for a tow truck for a stolen Honda Civic found abandoned, the trooper observed another stolen Nissan Maxima traveling on Hickory Street. The trooper radioed State Police Sgt. William Nee of the Auto Theft Strike Force, and then began following the stolen Maxima. Sgt. Nee responded and, along with Trooper Williams, blocked in the stolen car and arrested the driver, ANTHONY MURPH, 26, of Springfield. MURPH was booked at the State Police Barracks in Springfield on charges of receiving a stolen motor vehicle and operating after license revocation.