Fall River Defendant/Alleged Gang Member Re-Arrested After Bail Reduction
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
July 8, 2020
An alleged Boston-area gang member with a litany of previous convictions who had his bail reduced from
$10,000 to 0$ on a pending Fall River Superior Court drug trafficking case was re-arrested late last month after violating the terms of his pretrial release, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M,. Quinn III announced.
On February 13, 2019, members of the Southeastern Massachusetts Gang Task Force were on patrol in Fall River. In the weeks prior, the task force had been actively seeking the defendant, Tyre Wade, 28, of Norwood, who was wanted for several outstanding warrants and was believed to be in the area.
On that evening, officers spotted the defendant in a Shell gas station parking lot on President Avenue in Fall River and took him into custody. Police found 15 baggies of crack cocaine and one baggie of fentanyl in the defendant’s possession. At the time of his arrest, he was also processed on outstanding arrest warrants from various jurisdictions throughout the state charging him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault, threats to commit a crime, trafficking fentanyl, possession of a class B drug, unlawful possession of a firearm, distribution of a class B drug, distribution of a class A drug, firearm violation with one prior violent or serious drug crime, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying an illegal firearm, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle without a license and other motor vehicle-related charges. All of the warrants were issued in January 2019.
On February 28, 2019, a Bristol County Grand Jury indicted the defendant on charges of possession with intent to distribute a class A drug and possession with intent to distribute a class B drug, which were related to the Shell gas station arrest. The defendant was arraigned on the indictment on April 2, 2019, at which point, Judge Renee Dupuis ordered him held on $10,000 cash bail. However, on May 6, 2020, Judge Brian Davis, over the Commonwealth’s vigorous objection, reduced the defendant’s bail to $0 and set him free after he had filed a Covid-19 related motion for a reduction in bail despite having no health-related issues.
Within a week of the defendant’s release from jail, he violated the term’s of his pretrial release by failing to report to probation on multiple occasions, as well as new criminal charges out of Brockton District Court that occurred on June 1.
On June 10, Judge Davis issued another arrest warrant from the defendant, eventually resulting in his June 25 arrest in Norwood by members of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, the Bristol Couty District Attorney’s state police unit and Norwood Police. At a subsequent hearing in Fall River Superior Court on June 29th, Judge Dupuis revoked the defendant’s bail, meaning he will be held in jail for up to 60 days without bail. Judge Dupuis also ordered that if the case is not resolved within the 60 days, the defendant’s bail will be set back at the original $10,000.
The defendant’s criminal history includes several convictions and several stints of jail time in 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2020. He was also convicted federally on illegal firearm charges in 2012 and has violated the terms of his release on multiple occasions.
The pending charges against the defendant are all allegations at this time.
“This defendant ignored court orders, a warrant was issued, and significant resources went into relocating and apprehending this defendant.
He is a danger to the community and should not have been released in the first place. He is an alleged gang member who was caught allegedly selling drugs in a highly travelled area of Fall River. To my knowledge, he has no connection to the Fall River area,” District Attorney Quinn said. “The defendant has a significant criminal history, including a prior gun conviction in federal court and a violent assault. At the time he committed these offenses, he was out on bail for dealing drugs on the Cape, had a number of active warrants out of Brockton and Roxbury, and was on probation out of Dorchester. Even under the SJC Covid-19 directives, this defendant did not have to be released and clearly should not have been released. It comes as no surprise that the defendant ignored court orders and another warrant had to be issued for his arrest. This defendant clearly does not belong out on the street and should be held in custody until his case is resolved.”
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
508-997-0711
774-292-9576–cell