Edgartown Police cited Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr. of Vineyard Haven for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, in connection with a three-car crash Friday night that briefly closed West Tisbury Road and sent two people to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital with minor injuries.
Mr. DeOliveira, a Brazilian national, is intimately familiar with the charge of driving without a license. Friday night’s citation was the fifth he had received in the past five months, and his sixth in the past three years, in addition to citations for speeding, according to police records.
The Edgartown charge was amended Tuesday to include operation after revocation, when Edgartown Police learned that at the request of Oak Bluffs Police, on June 1 the Registry of Motor Vehicles revoked Mr. DeOliveira’s right to operate any motor vehicle in Massachusetts.
‘I don’t get it’
About 7:30 Friday night, Elizabeth Hayes of Vineyard Haven, a unit secretary at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, was riding in her Prius, being driven by her 16-year-old daughter Angela, who only recently received her learner’s permit. The mother and daughter were traveling up-Island when the vehicle in front of them slowed and stopped in order to turn left onto Oyster Pond Road.
Monique Pappas was riding in a GMC Yukon Excel driven by her husband, Chris, along with her mother, three sons, and their two friends. Her husband also stopped when the Prius came to a halt.
Police said Mr. DeOliveira, 35, was operating a 2013 white SUV BMW X5 when he struck the GMC Yukon that had stopped, sending that vehicle crashing into the stopped Prius.
“All three vehicles were damaged, and two vehicles had to be towed away from the scene,” police said in a press release. “Two parties were transported to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital by ambulance, and released shortly thereafter with minor injuries.”
Mr. DeOliveira told police he was “distracted thinking about his work day,” according to the police report, and did not see the traffic stopped in front of him.
In a conversation with The Times Tuesday, Mr. DeOliveira disputed the police report. He said he did not speak to the police, but went to the hospital. “I am not distracted,” he said. “I not say anything to the cops.”
Mr. DeOliveira said he came over a hill, and the vehicles in front of him “stopped too fast and I can’t stop the car.”
He added, “Accidents happen. It’s a common place for an accident.”
The occupants of the other two vehicles dispute that account. Ms. Pappas said the Prius stopped and her husband stopped with plenty of room in between the vehicles and waited before they were struck.
“We were very fortunate,” Ms. Pappas said in a telephone call Tuesday. “It was awful. I have a really bad concussion, and so does my mother.”
“I’ve never even been in a crash, and I’m 49,” she said. “It was quite traumatic, to be honest … I’m in pain — I’ve never had a concussion, and it’s awful.”
She said luckily everyone was wearing seatbelts, and the Yukon is a large, heavy vehicle. Ms. Pappas said if Mr. DeOliveira did hit the brakes, it was at the last second.
Ms. Hayes said she shudders to think what might have happened if the GMC had not taken the brunt of the impact. “It made a real difference,” she told The Times.
Ms. Hayes said it did not appear that Mr. DeOliveira ever hit his brakes. “There were no skid marks, nothing,” she said. “It was really scary — my daughter, she’s just learning, so it was a really bad experience for her.”
Ms. Hayes said she is grateful that there were no serious injuries. She praised the quick response of police and emergency medical first responders: “It really felt like it was less than five minutes that the first responders were there — I was amazed — the ambulance, the police, just everyone. Everybody was just so good, and they knew exactly what to do.”
Ms. Hayes is angry that Mr. DeOliveira can drive with impunity despite his lack of a license. “I just don’t get it,” she said.
Detainer issued
Police reports compiled by The Times reveal a pattern of Mr. DeOliveira operating BMWs registered to other owners without a license.
Early on the morning of Feb. 28, 2013, Tisbury Police stopped Mr. DeOliveira, who was then living at 64B Pinehurst Road in Edgartown, on Beach Road, driving a 2001 gray BMW 540I with an expired inspection sticker. The vehicle was registered to Adalto Souza, a man living at the same address.
“I requested that the male give me his driver’s license, and he handed me what appeared to be an old and worn Brazilian passport identifying him as David Ortiz,” Sergeant Chris Habekost wrote in his report. “I asked the male if he had a driver’s license, and he told me that he did not, but then corrected himself and told me that he had a Brazilian license but didn’t have it with him … I looked closer at the passport given to me by the operator, and I observed that the picture did not appear to be the original picture for the passport.”
At the jail, Mr. DeOliveira was confronted with the discrepancies regarding his identity and age. “DeOliveira told us that he didn’t tell us his real name at first because he is in the U.S. illegally,” Sergeant Habekost wrote in his report.
“The sheriff’s department advised me that there was an INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] detainer for DeOliveira and that he was to be held on the detainer and warrant.”
The court report published March 1, 2013, states: “Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr., Edgartown; DOB 7/11/81, no inspection/sticker: not responsible; unlicensed operation of motor vehicle: to be dismissed upon payment of $150 court cost; motor vehicle operator refuses to identify self: to be dismissed upon payment of $100 court cost.”
Not a priority
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), formerly INS, issues detainee orders that ask local law enforcement authorities to hold an individual in jail while ICE decides whether to take the person into federal custody.
ICE issues detainee orders for a wide range of reasons: ICE wants to talk to the person, the person did not appear at a hearing, the person is wanted for a serious crime, or the person has already been ordered deported.
According to Dukes County Jail records, ICE agents took physical custody of Mr. DeOliveira on March 4, 2013.
The Times contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Luduvino DeOliveira, 35 and a citizen of Brazil, is not currently an ICE enforcement priority,” an ICE spokesman said in an email to The Times. “In 2015, for humanitarian reasons, he received temporary relief in his immigration case from the immigration court.”
The ICE spokesman was unable to say why the court, which operates under the Department of Justice, granted Mr. DeOliveira “relief.”
According to a source with knowledge of the proceedings who was not authorized to speak on the record, following a hearing that Mr. DeOliveira did not attend, in 2002 INS ordered him deported in absentia. However, INS lost track of him until his arrest in 2013.
At that time, because he had married a U.S. citizen, Mr. DeOliveira made the case to an immigration judge that his case should be reheard. The judge agreed, and essentially nullified the deportation order, paving the way for Mr. DeOliveira to apply to have his status changed from temporary to permanent, which would also allow him to apply for a driver’s license.
Three years later
Three years later, on the afternoon of March 20, 2016, Edgartown Police Officer William Bishop saw Mr. DeOliveira, then a Tisbury resident, driving a gray 2008 BMW 750LI registered to Joao Souza of Edgartown at a high rate of speed on Edgartown Road. “It appeared the BMW had just passed another vehicle,” Officer Bishop wrote in his report. “I did not witness this event, but did observe the vehicle correcting its trajectory in the travel lane.”
Officer Bishop pulled the vehicle over and asked the driver if he knew why he had stopped him. “Mr. DeOliveira stated, ‘Yes, speed.’ I asked Mr. DeOliveira if he had a license and he indicated that he did not,” Officer Bishop wrote in his report. Mr. DeOliveira was arrested and charged with speed greater than reasonable and operating without a license.
“Mr. DeOliveira’s vehicle was left with his wife, who has an active license,” Mr. Bishop said.
The report noted that a criminal complaint would be sought charging Joao Souza with allowing an unlicensed operator to operate a vehicle.
The court report published March 31, 2016, states: “Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr., Edgartown; DOB 7/11/81, unlicensed operation of motor vehicle: to be dismissed upon payment of $250 court cost and the completion of eight hours of community service, speeding: not responsible.”
One month later
One month later, about 10:30 pm on April 16, Oak Bluffs Police Officer Seth Harlow said he and his partner saw Mr. DeOliveira at the wheel of the same BMW take the 90-degree turn on Eastville Avenue near the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital doing twice the posted speed limit of 20 miles per hour.
“I had my windows down, and both Officer Twomey and myself could hear the tires of the BMW struggling to grip the pavement,” he wrote in his report. “It appeared as if the vehicle was going to hit us, but the operator was able to complete the corner and maintain control.”
Mr. DeOliveira told police he did not have a valid driver’s license “in the United States,” and explained that he had recently been arrested in Edgartown.
Police arrested him and charged with speeding and unlicensed operation. “DeOliveira’s vehicle was picked up by his licensed wife and removed from the scene,” Officer Harlow wrote in his report.
Seven hours later
At 6:15 am, April 17, Oak Bluffs Detective Jeffrey LaBell saw a familiar BMW and face. “I had prior knowledge that Officer Harlow arrested DeOliveira approximately 7 hours prior for unlicensed operation, therefore I formed probable cause to believe DeOliveira was operating the vehicle illegally,” he said in his police report.
He asked DeOliveira why he was driving. “DeOliveira didn’t have much to say other than that he had to pick up the car. He confirmed that his wife had just picked him up at the jail.”
Detective LaBell said his wife, Allison DeOliveira, arrived and he allowed her to leave with the car and her husband, who was issued a citation for driving without a license.
The police report notes: “Officer Twomey will be charging the registered owner of the vehicle, Joao Souza, with allowing an unlicensed operator.”
The court report published May 5, 2016, states: “Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr., Vineyard Haven; DOB 7/11/81, unlicensed operation of motor vehicle: to be dismissed upon payment of $250 court cost and the completion of eight hours of community service; speeding in violation of special regulation: not responsible.”
Well-traveled road
On May 22, at about 1:30 am, Oak Bluffs Police Officer James Hagerty was monitoring bar closings when Edson DeOliveira walked by “and made eye contact.” Officer Hagerty said in his report he knew DeOliveira from two previous incidents “involving unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in Oak Bluffs, as well as from observing him in the Edgartown courthouse.”
About 20 minutes later he saw Mr. DeOliveira drive out of town in a white BMW SUV. Mr. Hagerty got in his cruiser and stopped the SUV.
He asked Mr. DeOliveira why “he was driving without a license again. DeOliveira had no response, and handed me a Brazilian passport,” Officer Hagerty wrote in his report.
A check of the records determined that the 2013 white BMW X5 was registered to Allison DeOliveira. A driver’s history “showed that Edson DeOliveira had four prior entries for unlicensed operation.”
Police arrested Mr. DeOliveira and transported him to jail. “Allison DeOliveira arrived on scene and took possession of the vehicle.”
The court report published on June 2, 2016, which disposed of the earlier citation, states: “Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr., Vineyard Haven; DOB 7/11/81, unlicensed operation of motor vehicle: guilty, must pay $375 fine and $125 surfine. Edson Luduvino DeOliveira Jr., Vineyard Haven; DOB 7/11/81, unlicensed operation of motor vehicle: guilty, must pay $375 fine and $125 surfine.
Legal contradictions
An individual arrested for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle faces no jail time. The law allows for escalating fines of not more than $500 for the first offense; not less than $500 and not more than $1,000 for the second offense; and not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,000 for subsequent offenses.
However, due to a change in the law, a charge of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle does not appear on an individual’s criminal record, and would only be known if a prosecutor requested an individual’s driving record from the Registry of Motor Vehicle.
An individual who drives with a suspended license, as opposed to no license, faces stiffer fines and possible jail time. The fine is not less than $500 and not more than $1,000, and/or 10 days in jail. For subsequent offenses the jail term is not less than 60 days and no more than one year.
Merry-go-round
In conversation with The Times, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown police officers expressed frustration with a system that essentially allows license scofflaws to escape significant consequences.
Oak Bluffs Police Lieut. Tim Williamson said police may as well issue citations and save the jail and the courts the effort and paperwork associated with an arrest, given the level of punishment most offenders appear to receive.
Lieutenant Williamson said that in the case of individuals working on the Island and driving without a license who may be in the country illegally, getting stopped and paying a fine is just another cost of doing business. He suggested higher fines as allowed by law could provide an added deterrent.
“It just seems like we are wasting everybody’s time and clogging up the court system,” he said. “It seems like there are no teeth to the law, and the violators seem emboldened by the fact there are no penalties. They pay a fine and go on their merry way.”
Lieutenant Williamson said Mr. DeOliveira recently saw an officer on foot patrol and taunted him. “One of my officers was on Circuit Avenue on foot patrol and Edson walked over to him and said, ‘Pull me over tonight and see what happens.’ He’s pretty cocky.”
Not a bad person
In a conversation with The Times Tuesday, Mr. DeOliveira said he had no choice but to drive without a license because he did not have a Social Security number. He has been driving since 2001, he said.
Mr. DeOliveira, a carpenter, said he came to this country from Brazil when he was a teenager, 19 years old. In 2002, his friends told him that if he showed up for his hearing, he would be sent back to his country, and he did not want to return. Now 35, he said, “I didn’t have a life there anymore.”
He said he had been here all these years driving and working, and it was only in the past several months “bad things happen in my life.”
Mr. DeOliveira said he is now in the processing of applying for permanent immigration status so he can get a license, but has been told he must wait. “One year, four months, nothing happened yet,” he said.
Mr. DeOliveira said he likes the Vineyard community. He maintains that his only offence was speeding once, and after that, the police targeted him because they knew he did not have a license.
“The next four or five times the guys stop me again, I’m not doing nothing, just driving, and the cops stop me and say, ‘I know the car, I know it’s you, that’s why I’m stopping you. I don’t do a lot of bad things. Just one speeding and one crash, the others are just because the cops know who I am and stop me.”
Mr. DeOliveira said he never taunted an Oak Bluffs police officer. “All I can say is I’m a good man, I’m a hard worker; I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I don’t do anything. If you check my record you’re never going to find anything, all you’re going to find is I drive without a license.” he said. “I have to work. I can’t stop work because I have my bills to pay, I have my wife to support, that’s why I’m driving. I not crash because I want to crash.”