Speeding Driver With Suspended License Found to Possess Drugs And Defaced Firearm

Saturday, December 30, 2023, Trooper Derek Desruisseaux was conducting patrol on Cabot Street in Holyoke. Trooper Desruisseaux’s attention was drawn to a Hyundai sedan which was travelling at a rate of speed well over the 25 mile per hour limit. Trooper Desruisseaux turned on his blue lights to initiate a traffic stop, and immediately noticed the Hyundai’s slow, gradual roll to a stop while jutting into the lanes of travel. The Hyundai even lurched forward again before the Trooper could approach the driver, as the driver reached throughout the interior of the Hyundai while still in drive.

Trooper Desruisseaux made contact with the driver, JOSE ARROYO TORRES, 31, of West Springfield. Trooper Desruisseaux asked ARROYO TORRES for his license and the registration for the vehicle. ARROYO TORRES was discovered to have a suspended license and the vehicle’s registration had been revoked. ARROYO TORRES’s actions and behavior became increasingly erratic, attempting to exit the vehicle while it was in drive and trying to use his foot to stop the car from rolling. ARROYO TORRES was removed from the car, and a search of ARROYO TORRES’s person found several marijuana edibles and two bags of white powder believed to be cocaine. ARROYO TORRES was placed under arrest and seated in the rear of a State Police cruiser.

At this point, backed up by Troopers Christopher Ortega and Joseph Helnarski, Troopers on scene turned to conducting a probable cause search of the vehicle ARROYO TORRES was driving. That search discovered on the rear seat floorboards an unsecured black box containing a High Point .45 Caliber handgun loaded with 6 rounds of ammunition. ARROYO TORRES does not possess a license to carry a firearm.

Upon discovery of the firearm in the rear of the vehicle, ARROYO TORRES became irate and began yelling racial slurs at the Troopers, spitting on them and spitting throughout the rear of Trooper Desruisseaux’s cruiser. Trooper Desruisseaux’s cruiser would require a biohazard decontamination technician to clean the rear compartment.

ARROYO TORRES was booked, photographed, and fingerprinted at the Springfield Barracks.

ARROYO TORRES was arraigned at Holyoke District Court on charges of:

1. Possession Of A Firearm Without FID;

2. Receiving A Firearm With A Defaced Serial Number;

3. Possession Of Ammunition Without A FID;

4. Possession Of A Class B Drug – Subsequent Offense;

5. Resisting Arrest;

6. Vandalizing Property;

7. Operating A Motor Vehicle With Suspended License;

8. Speeding;

9. Vehicle Equipment Violation;

10. Vehicle Lights Violation;

11. Operating A Motor Vehicle With Suspended Registration;

12. Uninsured Motor Vehicle; and

13. Unregistered Motor Vehicle.