Cops chase statie eyed in a sex act
Official decries ‘blemish’ on badge
Lynn police booking photo of Efrain Montanez.
By Dan O’Brien | Saturday, December 17, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
The fed-up commander of the state police lashed out at the latest trooper to be arrested — this time on charges he was caught in an unmarked pickup in the midst of a sex act with an alleged hooker — saying the officer tarnished the badge.
“As your colonel, I assure you we will address these issues and restore the public trust,” Col. Marian McGovern said in an email to the entire force yesterday. “I know that you … are as troubled as I am by the blemish on our reputation.”
Trooper Efrain Montanez, 50, of Salem is now on unpaid administrative leave after police said he nearly ran over a Lynn cop, who reported catching him early yesterday engaged in a sex act with an alleged prostitute in an unmarked state police vehicle.
The bust comes on the heels of the arrest of state police Capt. Thomas McCarthy, 47, who police said led Saugus cops on a chase last month.
“The allegations in each case are disturbing,” McGovern added.
State police spokesman David Procopio called Montanez’s actions “an outrageous breach of duty” and “an utter embarrassment to the department.”
Montanez, who made $117,866 last year, was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment in Lynn District Court. He is charged with unnatural sexual acts, assault with a dangerous weapon (vehicle), failing to stop for police and running a stop sign.
Lynn cops conducting surveillance observed Montanez, driving a 2011 Ford pickup, pull next to Katelyn Pumphret, 23, a homeless woman from Winthrop, in a Union Street parking lot about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, according to a police report.
After Pumphret got in the truck, officers reported trailing the vehicle to Suffolk Street where it parked. A Lynn detective walked up to the truck and reported seeing Pumphret performing oral sex on Montanez when he flashed his badge at the driver’s side window.
Montanez “quickly placed the vehicle in reverse” then accelerated forward and nearly hit the detective, who was not injured, according to the report.
Pumphret, charged with prostitution and unnatural acts, exited the truck at one point during a brief police pursuit, according to the report. Montanez pulled over on Lynn Shore Drive after traveling several city blocks, police said.
Neither Montanez, who was on the state police gang unit, nor Pumphret could not be reached for comment.
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