On Friday, January 20, 2017, I was assigned to Detective Unit D-2 and working the 8:00am-4:00pm shift. At approximately 8:35am I was dispatched to 1305 Broadway, a convenience store called the L.A. Market, for a 9-1-1 call of a stabbing victim who had stumbled into the market. The 9-1-1 caller from L.A. Market, XXXXX, reported that a man came into the store, bleeding, and collapsed. XXXXX also stated that he observed a knife outside the door. I would note here, that just a few minutes prior to this call, another 9-1-1 call had come in, from a different caller, for 2 men engaged in a knife fight in the middle of Broadway, in front of the L.A. Market. The person who made this 9-1-1 call, YYYYY, described the men as one being black, one being white, one wearing jeans and both wearing hoodies. YYYYY added that both men were equal in size and stature. 

 

The first police and EMS units arrived on scene to find the stabbing victim, later identified as ZZZZZ, unconscious and suffering from multiple, severe stab wounds to his heart, lung, throat, abdomen and hands. Because of his grave condition due the massive loss of blood, he was immediately rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital where he remains in critical condition as of the writing of this report. (Sunday, 1/22/17 at 1937HRS).

 

As the first detective arriving on scene, I made sure that the area where the stabbing happened was secured with yellow crime-scene tape, which was already up, so that no persons, other than law-enforcement personnel, could contaminate the scene. A crime-scene log was initiated and maintained throughout the investigation.

 

My initial observations of the scene were of a blood-stained sidewalk, with the blood-stain trail leading from a smashed cell phone on the sidewalk(ZZZZZ’s) in front of 1293 Broadway (Venus Pizza) to 1305 Broadway (L.A. Market). This blood trail was approximately 20 yards long. On the sidewalk in front of 1305 Broadway I observed two blood-stained knives. One knife was of a “buck-knife” style and one was of a “folding” style. I also observed large blood smears on the door entering the L.A. Market.

 

After being briefed of the situation by the ranking patrol sergeant on scene, Sergeant Michael Capasso, I was introduced to the girlfriend of ZZZZZ, AAAAA. AAAAA told me that ZZZZZ had left their apartment at XX North Street shortly before to go to the Stop and Shop around the corner to get her something to eat for breakfast while she took her shower. He was to then come back to pick her up and take her to work. This was their daily routine. She said that when he didn’t show up to get her she walked up North Street to Broadway where she ran into all the police activity and learned that ZZZZZ had been stabbed. She told me that, upon learning he’d been stabbed, she immediately suspected who had stabbed him. She told me that it was either Dwayne “D-Boy” Williams or BBBBB, who had been threatening ZZZZZ over the past several weeks. She went on to say that these men believed that ZZZZZ had stolen money from them and had been stalking him for some time in an attempt to intimidate him. On one occasion, BBBBB had pulled out a gun on ZZZZZ and threatened to shoot him. Also, as recently as January 17, both men attempted to carjack ZZZZZ as he and AAAAA were trying to drive out of the housing complex where they reside. AAAAA said that ZZZZZ was just able to lock his door in time before Williams could pull it open. In fact, Williams, a violent and powerfully-built ex-convict, literally ripped the door handle off the car as ZZZZZ drove away. AAAAA showed me the car, with its missing door handle, where it was parked on Broadway near the stabbing. I asked her why it was parked a block away from where they lived and she told me that ZZZZZ had to change the spot where he parked the car every night because he knew he was being followed by these men as was in fear for his and her safety. She also stated that ZZZZZ, who is not a violent individual, began to carry a knife for protection. I let AAAAA end the interview at this time so she could go to the MGH.

 

Within minutes of interviewing AAAAA, I received a phone-call from Somerville Police Narcotics Detective Fernando Cicerone, who was off-duty, but had learned of ZZZZZ’s stabbing. Detective Cicerone told me that he had personal knowledge of the “feud” between ZZZZZ and Williams/BBBBB and confirmed the story that AAAAA had just told me. He also added that ZZZZZ had reached out to him recently and told him that he was in fear for his life. He described both Williams and BBBBB as being young, black males, with Williams being about 6’02” and muscular and BBBBB being 6’4″ and much heavier. He indicated that Williams was the much more violent of the two. After speaking with Cicerone regarding Williams and BBBBB, and because the original 9-1-1 caller (YYYYY) stated that one of the men involved in the knife-fight was a young black male, I opined that some credence was added to AAAAA’s suspicion that one of these men was responsible for ZZZZZ’s stabbing. I then asked that patrol units in the area be on the lookout for these men as possible suspects in the stabbing.

 

Approximately 50 minutes after the stabbing, Sergeant Michael Capasso spotted BBBBB driving into the Clarendon Hill Towers housing complex, which is about two blocks from the crime-scene, and notified me via radio. I asked Sergeant Capasso to detain him while I called the original 9-1-1 caller, YYYYY, to arrange for he and his mother, who was driving the car when he called 9-1-1, could come by for a “show-up” to see if BBBBB was the black male with the knife. YYYYY and his mother, CCCCC, were picked up by Detective Mark Pulli and driven to the Clarendon Hill Towers where BBBBB was being detained. After YYYYY and CCCCC looked at BBBBB, they both agreed that he was not the black male with the knife. They said the man with the knife was big, but not as big as the 6’04”, 350lb BBBBB. YYYYY also added that the black male that he saw with the knife was a lighter-skinned African-American male whereas BBBBB is a dark-skinned Haitian-American male.

 

After the negative ID on BBBBB, I viewed the RMV image of Dwayne Williams. Upon seeing it I could see that he was a lighter-skinned black male. I then viewed his BOP, which lists his height and weight as 6’02”, 240lbs. I opined that he closely resembled the black male with the knife that the YYYYY’s saw. I decided that I would show YYYYY & CCCCC a photo array containing a picture of Dwayne Williams. YYYYY & CCCCC were driven back to SPD-CID where an eight-photo array was created and shown to YYYYY & CCCCC. This process took place around 12:30pm. The array was shown by Detective Ariel Collazo, a “blind-presenter”, meaning he had no knowledge of the suspect. He first showed the array to CCCCC. Before showing it to her she stated that she “got a much better look at the white kid” and indicated she didn’t get a good look at the black male. Nonetheless, Detective Collazo showed the array to her but, as expected, she didn’t recognize any one of the eight males.

 

Next, Detective Collazo showed the array to YYYYY. In direct contrast to his mother, YYYYY indicated that he got “an excellent look” at the black male with the knife. Upon viewing the array, YYYYY, positively, and without hesitation, identified Dwayne Williams as the black male with the knife that he saw on Broadway. As is SPD photo-array policy, he signed and dated the photograph of Dwayne Williams.

 

After Dwayne Williams was identified by YYYYY, I began the process of applying for an arrest warrant for him for Armed Assault with Intent to Murder. Meanwhile, Narcotics Officers Fernando Cicerone and Jason Costa drove to 484 Main Street, Medford, the last known address of Dwayne Williams, to conduct surveillance while I worked on the warrant application. However, prior to me beginning the affidavit for the warrant, Detective Cicerone spotted Dwayne Williams leaving his residence, get into a vehicle and begin to drive away. Fearing that Williams was trying to flee the area, I asked that he be pulled over and arrested for the above offense based on probable cause. Detectives Cicerone and Costa could not do so because they were in an unmarked narcotics vehicle with no lights and siren. At this point myself, Detective Collazo and Mass State Trooper Joel Gagne responded to assist in my vehicle, which is equipped with lights and siren. Detective Cicerone followed the vehicle that Williams was in to the Fellsway in Malden where I was finally able to catch up to it and effect a felony vehicle stop. Williams was taken from the car and placed under arrest. He was transported back to SPD-HQ and booked in the usual fashion. The vehicle, a NH registration, owned and operated by DDDDD was towed back to SPD-HQ. DDDDD also came to SPD-CID to be interviewed.

 

Subsequent to Williams’ arrest and booking, chemists from the State Police Crime Lab responded to SPD-HQ for the purpose of testing both Williams’ hands and the steering wheel of DDDDD’s vehicle, for blood. Both Williams’ hands and the steering wheel tested POSITIVE for the presence of blood. (The reason that DDDDD’s car was tested was because he had previously told Detective Nadile that Williams had taken his car, without his knowledge, earlier on in the morning. DDDDD’s car can be seen on video right near the crime scene just before the assault on ZZZZZ. Detective Nadile will file a report on the DDDDD

interview. The video, along with several other videos, will be provided to the Court). 

 

Also subsequent to the arrest and booking of Williams, a search warrant was executed at his residence at 484 Main Street, Medford. As a result of this search warrant, the blood-spattered sneakers belonging to Dwayne Williams, the same sneakers that he can be seen wearing on video at the crime scene, were located and taken into evidence. In addition, 4 knives, fitting the description of the knife that YYYYY saw Williams wielding, were taken into evidence.

 

Also discovered during the search of Williams’ residence, was a safe containing one 9mm handgun, 20 9mm rounds of ammunition, several bags of a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, several bags of a brown powdery substance believed to be heroin, a bag of what appears to be crack cocaine, a digital scale and $16,112.00 in U.S. currency. Therefore, in addition to the offenses for which he was arrested (Armed Assault with Intent to Murder; Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon Causing Serious Bodily Injury), additional charges will be filed against Dwayne Williams in Somerville District Court for:

 

Trafficking in a Class A substance (heroin)

Trafficking in a class B substance (powdered cocaine and crack cocaine)

Unlawful Possession of a Handgun

Unlawful Possession of Ammunition

Career Criminal in Possession of a Handgun

*NOTE: The latter charges are subject to amendment pending laboratory testing of the drugs

 

As mentioned at the beginning of this report, this is a brief summary. It does not contain every detail. This is currently a fluid investigation and there will be more detailed reports to follow.    

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Detective Paul Duffy #200