For Immediate Release: 7/7/2023 9:06 am
On July 6th 2023 at about 5:50 PM, two Worcester Police officers assigned to the Summer Impact assignment were on patrol in the area of Hope Ave when they observed a white Audi pass by them at a high rate of speed. One of the officers observed the operator, twenty-two-year-old Kidam Oquendo of Wawecus Road, who he believed did not have an active driver’s license. The officer turned the cruiser around and prepared to confirm the operator’s license status, but lost sight of the vehicle.
As the officers traveled west on Hope Ave, they observed that the white Audi had been involved in a crash with a red Ford. Several people flagged down the officers and told them that the operator of the Audi had fled the scene of the crash while wearing a black backpack and was running toward Hope Cemetery. An officer called out that he saw Mr. Oquendo running across Hope Ave from the cemetery, and another officer located Mr. Oquendo hiding next to a residence after a brief foot pursuit. He was taken into custody.
When officers re-traced their steps during foot pursuit, they located a black backpack with a loaded handgun in it. The firearm was equipped with a “Glock switch,” which can enable a semi-automatic firearm to function like an automatic firearm. Officers found a loaded magazine in the Audi, and Mr. Oquendo does not have a license to carry firearms. He is charged with Possession of a Machine Gun, Possession of a Large Capacity Firearm, Improper Storage of a Firearm, Possession of a Firearm without an FID Card, Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card, Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card, Leaving the Scene of Property Damage, Operating with a Suspended Driver’s License, Operating to Endanger, and Trespass.
