NEW BEDFORD — Longtime New Bedford firefighter Manuel Mota Jr. is facing two separate charges of disorderly conduct and another charge of assault and battery on a police officer — the latest in a string of eight criminal arrests dating back to 2000.
The majority of Mota’s arrests have involved charges of drunken behavior, and some have included allegations of violent behavior. In addition, Mota has been arrested on charges of assault and battery, leaving the scene of property damage, resisting arrest, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating under the influence, trespassing, disturbing the peace, and disorderly conduct.
Though court documents include photographs and lengthy testimony from multiple police officers, Mota has never been subject to discipline beyond a $200 fine or a 45-day loss of license. Several times Mota’s cases were dismissed “upon request of the Commonwealth”; at least one case Mota admitted to “sufficient facts” but the case was “continued without guilty finding”; and Mota was once granted pre-trial probation, an agreement that dismisses charges in exchange for serving a probation.
Mota has never been found guilty.
The Bristol County District Attorney’s office has been the prosecutor responsible for dismissing at least five criminal charges against Mota over the last 20 years. A representative of District Attorney Thomas Quinn’s office, Assistant D.A. Jennifer Sowa, did not respond to email or voicemail requests for comment.
At present, Mota is still employed as a New Bedford firefighter, though he has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Mota could not be reached for comment on this story. His attorney in New Bedford District Court, Ahmed Farouk Ahmed, said that Mota was an upstanding firefighter, but declined to comment on the case.
The Light asked to speak with Fire Chief Scott Kruger about Mota and his history of arrests. In response, the city’s public information officer, Jonathan Darling, provided the following statement: “Firefighter Manuel Mota was placed on paid administrative leave on February 4, 2025 pending the outcome of a personnel investigation to determine whether his actions constituted a violation of departmental policies. Consistent with standing policy, the City declines comment on pending personnel investigations.”
The city’s internal investigation will refer to its personnel policies, which include prohibitions on the use or possession of alcohol on city property and forbids verbal abuse.
Recent arrest in Fairhaven
A police report about Mota’s most recent arrest for disorderly conduct in Fairhaven indicates that the firefighter was involved in a bar fight and repeatedly used racial slurs to demean arresting officers of the Fairhaven Police Department.
Around 2 a.m. on the morning of Monday, Jan. 27, Mota himself called the police to Paul’s Sports Corner, a sports bar near the riverfront in Fairhaven. When police arrived, Mota was in the parking lot with dried blood on his lips and bloodshot eyes, and he swayed and yelled and banged on the bar door, according to the police report.
According to an officer’s account, Mota said repeatedly that he had been the subject of “a terrorist attack” and yelled at the officers to investigate. Mota’s story, which a bartender confirmed, was that he had been drinking and talking with a woman all night. Eventually they began to argue and fight. Then the altercation turned physical. The woman began to physically “attack” Mota, both he and the bartender said in the officer’s account.
The bartender kicked out Mota, citing a policy against fighting. Several other patrons asked police officers to escort them to their cars and said they were scared of Mota, according to the police account.
At that point, officers asked Mota to call for a ride home, but “Manny became irate once again and began to yell and scream that he was not going anywhere and that he was in a public place,” according to an officer’s account. “Manny began to yell extremely loudly for no reason and began to yell ‘N—’ multiple times. When told to stop he got into Officer [Chris] Bettencourt’s face and began yelling at him.”
The officers arrested Mota on a charge of disorderly conduct and took him to New Bedford’s Ash Street Jail. However, Mota was “refused entry due to him not cooperating with the booking procedure and refusing to take photographs and be fingerprinted.” Officers then transported Mota to a Mattapoisett police station where he was held for an undisclosed length of time before finally being returned to the Fairhaven Police Department.
Recent arrest in Quincy
Mota faces charges of assault and battery on a Weymouth police officer and disorderly conduct in connection with a separate arrest in December.
For this charge, the owner of Cathay Center Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant and karaoke bar in Weymouth, called the police just before 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6. When officers arrived, the owner pointed out Mota as a disturbance and asked officers to remove him from the premises.
After requesting to be allowed to pay his bill, Mota started “shouting obscenities to the bartender such as ‘f— you’ several times,” according to an officer’s account. Officer John Hubbard grabbed Mota’s arm and Mota then “pushed him when he grabbed his arm,” according to the officer’s account.
Outside the bar, the officers placed Mota in handcuffs and arrested him. Mota will appear for a pre-trial hearing later this month in Quincy District Court.
A long history of arrests
Mota’s history of arrests stretches back to the year 2000. Many of the court filings include testimony from the arresting officers, and each account follows a familiar pattern.
In May 2024, an officer wrote that Mota “was in The Whalers Inn [in New Bedford] and started becoming aggressive toward staff and patrons, yelling and swearing.” After refusing to leave and continuing to yell, Mota was arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace. Both of these charges were dismissed before trial.
In February 2024, the arresting New Bedford police officer wrote that Mota “was involved in some kind of scuffle in a local restaurant. He was highly intoxicated and refused to leave.” Charges of disorderly conduct were dismissed before trial.
In May 2016, officers came upon Mota at 2 a.m. inside a blue Chevy stopped against a curb on Route 18 in New Bedford. When they approached the vehicle, the officers found that the Mota was asleep on the steering wheel, the car smelled heavily of liquor, and the vehicle was still in drive, according to a police report. Officers said they reached inside to put the car in park and removed the keys.
At the time, Mota was still in his New Bedford firefighter’s uniform, and once he awoke “his entire demeanor and speech was noted to be slow, slurred, and obviously impaired,” according to the officer’s testimony. A charge of negligent operation of a motor vehicle was dismissed; a charge of operating under the influence (OUI) included “admission to sufficient facts” but was ultimately dismissed. Mota temporarily lost his driver’s license for 45 days.
In April 2013, officers found Mota in another bar, LeBeau’s Tavern in New Bedford, but this time Mota fought with police after refusing to leave the bar at their command, according to multiple testimonies from officers on scene. At one point, Mota attempted to wrest a taser away from a police officer, according to these reports, which prompted multiple officers to strike Mota with their batons in the thigh and shin. A charge of resisting arrest was dismissed before trial; on a charge of disorderly conduct, Mota was found “not responsible.”
The court documents for two other criminal arrests did not contain any description of incidents. But in 2002, Mota was arrested for leaving the scene of property damage. He was found “not responsible.”
In 2000, Mota was arrested for assault and battery, and he was granted “pretrial probation” — a favorable outcome for any defendant where they serve a probation before trial in exchange for having the case dismissed. Mota’s assigned attorney for the assault and battery case, Shane Carlson, still works in New Bedford but did not respond to a request for comment.
As a result of the open criminal charges against Mota, he is now on paid leave from the New Bedford Fire Department, where he has served for more than two decades as a firefighter. Mota’s salary is now more than $93,000. In 2021, Mota was part of the engine company and ladder that was awarded for its heroism in rescuing at least one person from a second-story fire in New Bedford.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Always disgusts and confuses me how people in power can commit a crime and be rewarded with paid leave which is essentially a paid vacation.
I agree!
What a wonderful representative of the union of proud firefighters and now on paid leave. Hmmm, something fishy here.
If this was a layperson, they would have NEVER gotten away with all these assaults, DUI’s etc.. This is a travesty!!
I can’t believe someone could have this many assault and battery DUIs and other charges and still be a firefighter I good standard! Paid leave is a vacation! 😌 My tax dollars paying for someone like this makes me angry! This person needs help with anger and drinking!
Well said!
who is protecting this guy anybody else would have been fired a long time ago are they waiting until he kills somebody
Let’s go light newspaper! We are patiently waiting on your coverage on the investigation into police chief Paul Oliveira! We wanna know why a paper outta Boston has to carry this breaking news and not you? Where’s Spillane and Doherty when there is real news to cover??????
What crime has Olivera committed?
Things are not always as they seem. Do some soul searching and research into your own comments and see what you come up with. Is bashing someone at their supposed bad times due to other entities a positive and respectful reflection of all the good they have done without notice? Things happen for a reason. Is this a perpetrator or someone who is strong and alone standing up to the corruption when opportunity arises?
Is he a union rep?
Say what?
A bad accident waiting to happen such as killing another person through drunken and outrageous behavior! Mota’s behaviors should have been ‘dealt’ with and corrected since 2000 when he began exhibiting his actions. Those who ‘let him go’ (again and again) chose to sweep things under the rug and put the public at risk. This man clearly has needed help for 24 years and noone has reached out and helped him! When Mota is let out again, we’ll assume, he will end up tragically killing someone by assault or reckless driving. Shame on the higher ups for not taking a stand on this!! You would if it was another adult you don’t ‘know’!