Thomas MacMillan Photo
The arrest at Chapel and Orchard.
(Updated: 1:14 p.m.) The police caught up with a 41-year-old man Wednesday afternoon two blocks from where he allegedly forced a woman out of her apartment at gunpoint.
They caught him at the corner of Orchard and Chapel streets around 1 p.m.
They caught him just as the police were dismantling a barricade two blocks away at 1523 Chapel St., a five-story apartment building in the West River neighborhood. Police, including SWAT, had blocked off surrounding streets as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.
They had been looking for the 41-year-old in the building, but a search found he wasn’t there.
1523 Chapel St.
According to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman: The incident began when a woman called police at 9:55 a.m. She said a 41-year-old man had forced her out of her third-floor apartment at 1523 Chapel St. at gunpoint. She left the apartment and called police.
The man is wanted on two warrants — sixth-degree larceny and breach of peace — according to the state judicial branch web site.
Cops flooded the area and blocked off surrounding streets. The SWAT team rolled up to the Chapel Street building in a BearCat armored vehicle, as police sought to make contact with the man.
Police blocked off traffic to the area. As of 11:40 a.m., police believed the man was still inside the building, but cops still hadn’t established any contact with him. SWAT negotiator Lt. Ray Hassett was attempting to make contact with the man, Hartman said.
At 11:45 a.m., police rolled the BearCat, which looks like an armor-plated Hummer and repels both bullets and bombs, toward the house.
Police evacuated the apartment adjacent to the one where police believed the man was hiding out, but told the rest of the neighbors to stay put. The brick building at Chapel and Winthrop holds 45 apartments, according to land records. The owner is Chapel Apartments LLC.
Police told neighbors in nearby homes to “get back inside” when they popped out to take a look at what was going on.
At 12:15 p.m., Mayor John DeStefano arrived on the scene in his Toyota Prius, trying to get to Sidney‘s Tailoring & Cleaning to pick up some pants. He was unable to do so.
Neighbors looked on as SWAT officers packed up and left.
Hartman announced at 12:35 p.m. that police had cleared the apartment in question and didn’t find the man there.
Officer Hartman.
Hartman said “there’s always going to be the response time issue,” meaning that the suspect could have slipped out the back door while police were responding to the woman’s call.
Less than half an hour later, a detective spotted the suspect two blocks away. Cops, including Capt. Leo Bombalicki and Lt. Hassett, rushed to the scene and took him into custody without incident.