A 56-year-old Gloucester man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Gloucester District Court to drunken driving, negligent driving, failing to stop for police, driving with a suspended license, driving an uninsured vehicle and a license plate violation.
Kenneth Santiano of 40 Magnolia Ave., was sentenced to two years probation, 90 days loss of driver's license and ordered to pay $600 in fines by Judge Joseph Jennings. Santiano was found responsible for driving an unregistered vehicle.
The charges against Santiano stem from two separate traffic stops.
On March 8, 2007, officers responding to a report of a woman being forcibly held in a truck near the Family Dollar store on Washington Street, said Santiano refused to pull over immediately, according to the police report.
A black Chevrolet Avalanche driven by Santiano struck the side of a police car trying to block its path, the report said.
After getting Santiano to exit the car, police said they suspected he was intoxicated and driving with a license plate that belonged to another car. Charges were not brought against Santiano by the woman in the car.
On Feb. 9, police pulled over a rental truck being driven by Santiano on Hesperus Avenue after observing erratic driving, according to the police report.
A 53-year-old Gloucester woman charged with breaking and entering and larceny had her case continued without finding until Feb. 20, 2009, Tuesday in Gloucester District Court.
Mary Martin of 37 Washington St. was charged after police investigated a report from a woman at Addison Gilbert Hospital in August 2007, who said her purse had been stolen from her car, which had been left running outside the hospital to engage the air conditioning.
The police report said Martin had called the victim to report finding the purse, but did not say why she was suspected of taking it.
An 18-year-old Gloucester man charged with possession of marijuana, a marked lane violation and driving under 21, had his case dismissed.
Maxwell Lott of 34 Rockport Road, was charged by Rockport police after a traffic stop on Broadway Feb. 24.
A New Hampshire man was found guilty Monday of stealing $1,100 worth of copper wire from a job site, though he will avoid jail if he stays out of trouble for the next year.
Justin Larose, 31, of 12 Eighth St., Nashua, N.H., was given a six-month jail sentence for a charge of larceny of property valued at more than $250. The sentence was suspended for one year, during which time Larose will have to abide by the terms of his probation.
He was ordered by Judge Joseph Jennings to submit to a mandatory drug evaluation and random drug screens, and to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date. He must also pay $90 to the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund.
Witnesses told police they saw Larose and another man take about 100 feet of copper wire from a construction site in the Blackburn Industrial Park last May 16. The men were seen putting the wire into a Honda Civic with New Hampshire plates.
At the time, Larose was working for Multi-Pro Co., a subcontractor hired to install drywall in the building under construction.
The job site had been plagued by thefts in the months before Larose's arrest, according to the police report. Copper is especially targeted by thieves because of its current high value as a scrap metal.
