Posted by Cape Cod Daily News via Hyannis News
Wednesday June 19, 2024 (6 months ago)
COTUIT, MASSACHUSETTS – When Patrolman Travis Brown of the Barnstable Police Department first found the male bicyclist laying face-down on the wet pavement in the eastbound lane of Route 28, a “good Samaritan” (an unnamed ER nurse) had already taken the time to stop and assist. The nurse was monitoring the man’s pulse, stabilizing, and reassuring him, according to a report filed by Patrolman Brown.
As you will hear in the following HN “video,” the nurse, the badly wounded man, and Patrolman Brown waited for a Cotuit FD ambulance to arrive. At one point, Patrolman Brown can be heard urging the ambulance to “step it up!”
There had been intermittent downpours, and everything was wet, including the pavement with the stricken man. Minutes must have felt like hours as all three found themselves suddenly thrust into a life-or-death situation. As you’ll hear, it was a bad scene.
The driver of the vehicle which had just struck the man was nowhere to be found.
The hit-and-run accident happened last Friday evening around ten o’clock (June 14, 2024).
Excerpts from Patrolman Brown’s report continue as follows:
“I observed that both sneakers of the victim had been blown off his feet and were laying in the roadway. I also observed a Haro (Mountain Bike Style) bicycle laying in the eastbound lane about 15-20ft (W) of the victim with substantial damage to the rear tire. An unknown motorist moved the bicycle out of the roadway and leaned it on a nearby utility pole.
Due to the severity of the accident, and the potential life threatening injuries I requested additional units assist with temporarily closing down Rte 28 (Mashpee Police assisted at Rte 130) and Ptl. Stoner diverted traffic at Santuit-Newtown. When Cotuit FD arrived they positioned the ambulance to block Main St. at Rte 28.”
While Patrolman Brown was providing traffic control an unknown motorist reportedly handed him a license plate which he found in the “middle of the road.” The plate number reportedly came back to a 2009 Black Lexus IS out of an address on Cotuit Rd (Rte 149) in Marstons Mills. Patrol officers were directed to the address in an effort to locate a vehicle with “extensive” front end damage.
A report filed by BPD Patrolman Bruce Marney, one of the officers dispatched to look for the suspect vehicle at the Marstons Mills address, continues as follows:
“I arrived a short time later as I pulled my cruiser off the road into the top of the driveway I immediately observed MA reg 5VZS88 [the suspect vehicle] parked less then 20 feet from the front of my cruiser. I observed extensive damage to the windshield and passenger side mirror […] PTL McNeice arrived at my location to assist a short time later. At this time, it had been raining for some time. I observed dry gravel underneath the other parked vehicles in the driveway, but the gravel underneath this vehicle appeared wet. The tires on the other vehicles appeared dry, yet the tires on this vehicle appeared wet as if it had recently been parked at this location. I did not observe any other dry spaces in the driveway indicating no vehicles had recently left the parking area.”
Officers reportedly also observed that the hood to the Lexus was still “very warm.”
Patrolman Marney and BPD Patrolman Erik McNeice knocked on the door to the residence and were eventually able to speak with the registered owner of the black Lexus. They initially spoke outside, on the front doorstep. The suspect’s speech was reportedly thick and slurred, and his eyes were allegedly observed to be bloodshot and glossy. The suspect reportedly denied driving the vehicle, telling officers he was out with a friend. He repeatedly told officers he did not know who was driving the vehicle, according to Patrolman Marney’s report.
Detective Liam Loiselle of the BPD arrived on scene to assist in the investigation. Investigators were reportedly able to gain consent to examine Ring camera video footage of the driveway by a female at the residence. The female reportedly identified a male seen in the footage walking down the driveway as the suspect. The video allegedly appears to show the suspect just arriving home and walking from where he usually parks his vehicle. “In the video, it appears that Antone is carrying a rectangular box, possibly a pack of beer […],” according to a report filed by Detective Loiselle.
The female reportedly told officers she was the girlfriend of the suspect. She reportedly told officers the suspect was the only one who drives the Lexus. She reportedly shares a bedroom with the suspect on the first floor of the residence. The female reportedly signed a BPD “consent to search” form and officers were able to locate a set of keys to the Lexus on a bureau inside the bedroom she shares with the suspect. A member of the Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigation Unit photographed the keys, along with clothing the suspect was allegedly observed wearing on the Ring camera footage.
The keys were eventually turned over to Officer Matthew Lounsbury, a BPD accident reconstruction expert who had initially responded to the scene of the hit-and-run, and later to the scene where officers located their suspect.
Based upon an investigation by a number of police resources, the suspect was arrested and transported back to Barnstable Police Headquarters for booking. The suspect reportedly consented to a breathalyzer test to measure his blood alcohol content, and his BAC reportedly came back over the legal limit… and he was advised his driver’s license was now suspended as a result.
Harold Antone, 54, of Marstons Mills was charged with felony Operating Under the Influence of Liquor with Serious Bodily Injury, Negligent Operation, and Leaving a crash Scene with Injury. NOTE: The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
A report submitted by Sergeant Anthony D’Angelo of the BPD indicates the victim, who uses a bicycle as his primary mode of transportation, was badly injured and will likely never be the same again. “An injury of this extent will surely hinder his ability to travel and his quality of life tremendously. These injuries could have a permanent impact on his ability to move,” Sergeant D’Angelo wrote.
The following HN “video” contains the dire radio transmissions from Officer Brown when he arrived to find the victim laying face-down on the wet pavement. The video also contains radio transmissions from other BPD officers, Cotuit FD, and the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office.
[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]
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