Couple faces carjacking charges after crash
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Reporter

The 2005 Chrysler Pacifica that was stolen in Fitchburg, came to its' final resting spot in Westminster. No one inside Ronald E. Dad and Associate's on Route 2A suffered injuries during the crash on Jan. 4. Journal Photo/Jeffrey W. Boudreau

Business is slowly getting back to normal for the employees at Ronald E. Dade and Associates on Route 2A in Westminster.

The employees were shocked in the midafternoon on Thursday, Jan. 4, when a stolen 2005 Chrysler Pacifica crashed into the front room of their office building.

"We didn't see it coming until it came through the wall," said Helen Peterson, the executive assistant to Ronald Dade.

The front room was used to house office supplies, the copier, clients' files and other items.

"We were happy no one was in that room," Peterson said. "We are in and out of the room on a regular basis."

Those items have been moved throughout the building and a blue tarp hangs across that damaged portion of the building. The tarp, a stacks of supplies scattered throughout the office and a slight draft are the most visible signs of the accident from inside the building.

"Everything is working," Peterson said.

The crash was the mid-point in a daylong police encounter with Brenda L. McPherson, 24, and Antonio T. Ramos, 33, of 44-1/2 Maverick St., Fitchburg.

The incident started at 50 Maverick St., Fitchburg, when McPherson and Ramos allegedly stole the Pacifica. Fitchburg police alerted neighboring police departments about the theft.

An off-duty Leominster police officer spotted the car in Westminster near Leino Park. The officer alerted Westminster and State Police, who located the car and gave chase.

The Pacifica crashed into Dade's white Volvo - which was parked in front of his business - sending the car flying across the yard more than 30 or 40 yards. The Pacifica then continued on into the building.

Police say the pair then jumped out of the car fleeing into the woods. State, Westminster and Fitchburg police searched the woods behind the Old Mill Restaurant for about 30 minutes before bringing the pair out in an ambulance.

"They had to be out of the car as soon as it stopped," Dade said, shortly after the incident.

Samantha Fitzgerald, an intern in Dade's office, said office workers didn't see the pair leaving and that police were there within seconds. Fitzgerald said the crime scene tape was up in less than a minute.

The pair was flown by LifeFlight to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. They were treated and released before appearing in Gardner District Court on Friday morning wearing hospital gowns, handcuffs and shackles.

McPherson appeared in tears in the courtroom before Judge Patrick Fox. She tried communicating with her mother, who was in the courtroom, through hand gestures and mouthing words.

Ramos tried to leave the public area of the courtroom twice before the arraignment had finished.

Fox set bail at $100,000 for each of them, after the prosecutor called the pair an obvious flight risk.

Both defendants have criminal records that were read into the record.

Westminster Police have charged McPherson with assault with a dangerous weapon (a car), failure to stop for a police officer, driving to endanger, receiving stolen property, driving after suspension of license, and a variety of motor vehicle violations.

In Fitchburg, the pair will face charges of larceny of a motor vehicle; armed robbery; armed carjacking; and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife),

Police have also charged the pair with with possession of heroin.

McPherson and Ramos are scheduled to be back in Gardner District Court at the beginning of February.

Don Foster, owner of the damaged building, said it will take a few more weeks to repair the entire building.

"It's back framed," he said.

The van damaged the frame of an exterior wall, but the structure itself remains sound.

"There's quiet a bit of damage," Foster said. "We've got quite a bit of work left."