Over the weekend, Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan revealed details of an incident involving the seizure of firearms and drugs, following a domestic assault and vehicular pursuit. According to a social media post from the Holyoke Police Department, officers responded to a disturbance on Saturday, around 12:40 p.m., where the suspect, Jayden Moquin, allegedly engaged in a domestic assault.
Moquin is accused of pointing a firearm at and choking a known victim in a park, in the presence of their child. The domestic dispute escalated as Moquin followed the victim home, continuing the assault, and later took the child. However, the child was thankfully unharmed, dropped off at a relative's home, and reunited with the mother.
In the hunt for Moquin, Lieutenant Jorge Monsalve spotted the suspect's vehicle and tried initiating a traffic stop on Lower Westfield Road. In what followed, Moquin fled and put the public at risk by speeding, running traffic signals, and driving against the flow of traffic, before abandoning his still-moving vehicle to attempt an escape on foot.
During a chase that ensued, Moquin dropped a bag, found to contain two illegal firearms, one with a high-capacity feeding device, 117 bags of suspected heroin/fentanyl, and over $500 in cash. Officers Andrew Gruska and Thomas Spafford caught up and arrested the 19-year-old Holyoke resident, putting an end to the dangerous pursuit.
Moquin faces an array of charges, including possession of a firearm without an FID card, possession with the intent to distribute a Class A drug, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked license, among others.
