NORTHAMPTON — A Springfield man pursued by police through three towns Wednesday stands accused of kidnapping his girlfriend in broad daylight, then fleeing and crashing his car in Southampton, seriously injuring the woman.
Easthampton Police, who were already on the lookout for Daniel Simmons’ vehicle following a 911 call, spotted the car and began a pursuit. While driving at about 67 mph, Simmons then lost control of his car which struck a utility pole and flipped, police said.
Police from Northampton, Easthampton and Southampton responded to the accident near the intersection of Pomeroy Meadow Road and Gunn Road Extension about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Simmons was arrested as his 18-year-old passenger was transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with a collapsed lung and possibly broken ribs, according to a police report. Simmons was not injured.
Simmons, 22, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Northampton District Court to charges of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, intimidating a witness and four counts of assault and battery on a family member.
He is being held without the right to bail until he returns to court Friday for a dangerousness hearing. There, a judge will assess whether Simmons poses a threat and determine if bail will be set.
In the hospital, with her upper lip swollen and cuts and bruises on the right side of her head, the woman told investigators about her struggle to escape, according to the police report.
She said the two of them were in Holyoke and took a trip to Northampton as they discussed issues with their relationship, police said.
Simmons pulled the car over in a parking lot on Grove Street. The woman had already been struck in the face multiple times, she told police, and just wanted to leave.
At least twice, according to the report, she tried to flee from the Acura sedan. But each time, Simmons forced her back into the car, according to the report.
Simmons was carrying the sobbing 18-year-old in his arms, police said, about to load her into his car when a man emerged from a nearby Grove Street apartment to investigate the screaming he heard from inside.
“Put me down,” the woman cried out, a witness told police. “I want to go home.”
Simmons dropped the woman to the pavement as the man approached, police said. But by the time the man called 911, Simmons was already driving away in the sedan with the woman inside.
Following his arrest, Simmons told investigators that he’d hit the woman multiple times while they were driving and that she repeatedly insisted he let her out of the car, according to the report.
Thursday morning, the woman’s mother, Cinthya Rivera, pleaded to a Gazette reporter in an email:
“Where is the justice for my little princess?”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.