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Posted by: kwflatbed

By MICHAEL MEDEIROS
SouthCoastToday.com
February 25, 2008 11:21 AM

MATTAPOISETT — Dozens of members of the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council aided in the arrest of two suspects this morning on North Street.
The arrest of the two suspects, who have not been identified, comes a day after arresting another man.
The hunt for the three men accused of stealing an elderly woman’s purse in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Fairhaven began yesterday afternoon, according to Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons.
She noted that soon after taking the purse the men tried to use the woman’s credit cards, which she had already cancelled following the theft, at the Wareham CVS and Stop & Shop. Workers at the stores notified police of the attempted usage, and at about 6:20 p.m. Wareham officers began pursuing the men, who were driving in a stolen gray Ford Mustang.
“The chase was very short, from Wareham to Mattapoisett,” said Chief Lyons.
The men abandoned the vehicle on Shady Oak Drive in Mattapoisett after the chase, and police were able to track one of the men down later that evening.
Officers, who also had a state police helicopter circling the area, began chasing down a lead on the remaining suspects this morning shortly after 11 a.m., and surrounded the car at the intersection of North St. and the ramps to Interstate 195.
Both men were arrested at that time.
No one was hurt in the incident.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/.../NEWS/80225028

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Mattapoisett manhunt ends in arrest of trio


JOHN SLADEWSKI/The Standard-Times
A police officer looks to the cruiser where one of the suspects can be seen in the back seat. He and another man were arrested on North Street in Mattapoisett after being on the run overnight.JOHN SLADEWSKI

By MICHAEL MEDEIROS and DON CUDDY
Standard-Times staff writers
February 26, 2008 6:00 AM

MATTAPOISETT — A purse-snatching in Fairhaven touched off a townwide manhunt Monday involving law enforcement officials from several communities, reverse 911 calls and the use of a state police helicopter.
Jimmy Perry, 17, of 43 Oneida St. in Mashpee, and Joshua Orr, 18 of 400 Bearse's Way in Hyannis, were arrested at about 11:25 a.m. Monday when dozens of local police officers, responding as part of the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, converged on the vehicle they were riding in on North Street near the ramps to Interstate 195.
That ended a search that began at about 2:51 p.m. Sunday when Mr. Orr, Mr. Perry and Steven Grover, 18, of Nash Road in New Bedford and formerly of Barnstable, allegedly robbed a 73-year-old woman of her purse in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Fairhaven.
"She was walking to her car when the pocketbook was ripped from her grasp. She reported a slight injury to her left arm. She was shaken up, but there were no major injuries," said Fairhaven Police Chief Gary F. Souza, who was among the officers involved in the arrests.
According to Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons, Mr. Grover was arrested Sunday night about four hours after a car chase involving the three men and Wareham and Marion police.
Officers began to the investigation after receiving a call from Fairhaven police about individuals at the Wareham Stop & Shop trying to use credit cards that had been stolen from the elderly woman, which had been canceled shortly after the theft. Officers were unable to locate the vehicle — a gray Ford Mustang reported stolen in Barnstable — but later spotted it at the CVS on Main Street in Wareham.
A high-speed chase ensued down Route 28 and onto I-195. The car then headed off at the Mattapoisett exit northbound onto North Street and took a right onto Shady Oak Drive.
Residents of the quiet subdivision, a mile and a half north of I-195, could never have imagined the drama that unfolded on their secluded street Sunday night.
"It was better than anything on the cop shows on television," said the owner of the last house on the dead-end street, whose front lawn bore witness Monday afternoon to the wild chase that arrived literally at his front door.
The man, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation, was standing in his yard when the stolen 2005 Mustang GTO sped down the street, hotly pursued by a Marion police cruiser.
"The Mustang had no lights on, but when he saw the dead end, he came up my neighbor's driveway, cut through the trees and went right round my house with the cruiser on his tail," the man said.
The Marion police car bogged down in the leaching field of his septic system, he said, but as the Mustang came around the front of his house, a Mattapoisett cruiser arrived to block the driveway exit.
Without slackening speed, the Mustang's driver swerved hard left through the line of trees, hard right, then left once again to flee back up the street.
"That Mustang is a powerful car, and there was snow on the ground and no traction. The kid should be in the Indianapolis 500," the homeowner said.
With the street being sealed off by police, the three fugitives threw open the doors and fled into the woods on foot.
Another neighbor returned to his home to see police and other cars everywhere and the Mustang with its door still open.
"They told us to go home and lock our doors," said the man, who also would not give his name.
"We could see the helicopter and the dogs and all the flashlights in the woods."
Wareham, Marion and Mattapoisett police were soon joined by Fairhaven and Rochester patrol units, police dogs and their handlers from New Bedford, the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department and the Massachusetts State Police and a state police helicopter.
Mr. Grover was arrested on Mattapoisett Road in Rochester at about 11 p.m., when police received a call from a resident reporting a man had knocked on his door asking to use the telephone to call a taxi because his car had broken down on the highway. Mr. Grover had no shoes on, and the resident became suspicious about his story, according to police.
Mattapoisett police responded and took him into custody, charging Mr. Grover with receiving stolen property, nighttime breaking and entering, two counts of destruction of property over $250, and four counts of receiving stolen property.
Police also received help from numerous Mattapoisett residents who had been contacted through the town's communicator system, which is similar to reverse-911.
"We sent out a message to all the residents last night somewhere around 9 o'clock that we were looking for two suspects wanted for a number of crimes, and to alert us if they had anyone at their door or in their homes or any suspicious activity to please let us know, which worked out well. We had several phone calls and a number of tips from the residents," said Chief Lyons.
Callers notified police of individuals running through their yards, helping them to pinpoint their location.
"They were on foot. We believe that one slept in someone's pool house, and one may have slept in the woods," said Chief Lyons. "We do know that they broke into a few homes that were unoccupied and we're looking into that now."
The search continued Monday morning, with a state police helicopter circling around the North Street area and officers from the law enforcement council meeting at the Park and Ride lot on North Street where Chief Lyons led the operation from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office's mobile response unit.
Shortly after 11 a.m., the bulk of the officers, several armed with semi-automatic rifles, headed back onto the road after a short briefing. According to a release from the Mattapoisett Police Department, "at approximately 11:21 a.m. information was gathered and a vehicle was located in the area of North Street operating slowly, looking in yards. This vehicle was the vehicle that picked up the two suspects." The police surrounded the vehicle, whose driver was unidentified and, soon after, the arrests were made. Mr. Perry and Mr. Orr face the same charges as Mr. Grover, with two additional charges of breaking and entering.
"It's a pretty extensive laundry list, quite honestly," said Chief Lyons, who lauded the training and quick response of the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council officers. "The police were excellent in all this.
"We used every available body," said Chief Lyons, who had overall command of the operation.
Chief Lyons defended the scale of the police operation relative to the seriousness of the charges.
"We used the resources that we felt we needed," the chief said. "The magnitude of this is greater than some people realize. These guys literally ripped the pocketbook from the lady's arm and escaped in a stolen vehicle. Three homes were broken into. When that happens, there can be access to weapons and the potential to injure people. Now all three are in custody, and we are very satisfied with the outcome. It was a team effort."
As to the cost of the operation, the chief said it would be "minimal."
"Most of the officers involved were on duty. There will be some overtime for my guys, but the cost is secondary to public safety," the chief said. "Whatever it costs it is well worth it. You can't worry about cost when you have people running around threatening the community."

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/...NEWS/802260332

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