Posted on August 24, 2011

Residents Demand Justice After Motorcyclist Killed

WCVB (Boston), August 23, 2011

Some members of the Milford community are demanding justice after a young man there was hit and killed while riding his motorcycle Saturday night after being dragged under a pickup truck for several blocks.

Police said the driver of the truck that hit the victim, Nicolas Guaman, 34, is an Ecuadoran who is in the U.S. illegally and has a lengthy and violent criminal record.

Now, some Milford residents are urging President Barack Obama to get involved. Marie Parente is one of them. She spent years representing the Milford area as a state representative and now, she’s written an open letter to Obama urging him to come to her community after the death of Matthew Denice, 23, who was hit and killed in Milford Saturday night.

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Denice was riding his motorcycle when a pickup truck hit him, dragging him nearly a quarter of a mile, investigators said.

Police charged Guaman with Denice’s death. They said he was driving drunk and is in this country illegally. {snip}

Parente said it’s the third death involving an illegal immigrant in Milford in the last two years.

She believes Guaman might have been apprehended sooner if tougher immigration laws were in place, something she thinks Obama needs to explain.

“Tell them why you want to give in-state tuition and amnesty to this illegal population, explain it to them. Because one of them killed their friend,” Parente said.

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[Editor’s Note: Be sure to click through to the original article to view video coverage.]


Milford Patch, August 23, 2011

The following is a statement released Monday night by the office of Lewis Evangelidis, Worcester County Sheriff. The Sheriff’s Office on Monday took custody ofNicolas Guaman, 34, the driver charged with motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence of liquor, and other offenses in the death of Milford resident Matthew Denice, a motorcyclist who was struck and killed after he was dragged a quarter-mile in the road. Guaman is an Ecuadorian citizen who told Milford police he is here illegally. He was arrested in Milford in February 2008 on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, two counts of assault and battery on a public employee, and breaking and entering, according to the Worcester District Attorney’s Office. The charges were “continued without a finding for a year” in May 2008.

The statement from Evangelidis:

Suspect and illegal immigrant Nicolas Guaman is presently being held at the Worcester County House of Correction. “As Worcester County Sheriff, I want to be emphatically clear that if the Secure Communities Act was already in place, a criminal alien such as Nicolas Guaman with a prior arrest record could have been identified by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE giving them the opportunity to deport Mr. Guaman in advance of this horrific crime on Aug. 20.”

“The Secure Communities Act is a commonsense federal program designed to identify and deport illegal immigrants who have previously been arrested, most importantly it protects the citizens of Worcester County and the Commonwealth from unthinkable tragedies like this.”

“As Sheriff, I find it implausible to think that Governor Patrick would not reconsider his failed position and lack of leadership on this issue and begin to immediately enact Secure Communities.”

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Department is fully committed to implementing and supporting the Secure Communities Act and will work diligently with federal agencies to identify and deport illegal immigrants who have been previously arrested for a crime.

“Moving forward, it is extremely important that we do everything possible to prevent a horrific tragedy like this from happening again.”