Car Thief Apprehended

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by Bobby Blair 12/4/11

After nearly three hours, police arrested a suspected car thief across from Fatima Shrine.

After an intensive search which included officers from surrounding towns, an alleged car thief was in handcuffs last night at 8:45 p.m. According to Police Chief John Moore the case originated in Ashland and ended across from the Fatima Shrine. Police followed the culprit described as a black male wearing jeans and a brown jacket to the area near Energy Saver in the Metcalf section of town. The car thief abandoned the vehicle and a perimeter was set up. Officer Chris Alberini from the Ashland PD arrived with his K-9 Dax.

A foot chase ensued with officers from Hopkinton, Ashland, Medway and Holliston securing a perimeter as far away as Cross and Highland Streets. Moore told HollistonReporter.com that the arrest could not have been possible without the assistance of a volunteer at the Shrine who was asked by Sgt. Lewis to "be on the look out" for the suspect.

Moore said, "This most recent incident with a stolen motor vehicle suspect crossing the line into Holliston and fleeing onto the Shrine grounds, while dozens of guests and spectators are enjoying the season's festivities, emphasizes the need for HPD to strengthen its efforts and determination to establish our own K9 unit. As we are most grateful to Ashland PD's K9 team (Officer Chris Alberini and Dax), we now fully realize that the public safety of the community can be greatly enhanced by our local ability to field this police tool." While the suspect's name was not released, Moore did say that he is from Connecticut.

Posted in Police/Fire.

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Comments (14)

Money isn't an issue if you read what I wrote. Thats a great idea to depend on other towns similar to how there are millions that depend on the government. That works real well. Sounds like a great idea to be dependant instead of independent. I do own a dog. I use my brain, I have realistic expectations, and Santa doesn't exist. Try again.

- Matt | 12/7/11 7:46 PM

As TM points out, we always seem to do just fine with the surrounding towns providing their dogs. So why do we need to pay for one? Sure we have to wait for one to arrive but in every case it has seemed to work just fine. Wanting and needing/justifying are two different things

- Justin | 12/7/11 5:17 PM

Your right Matt, you do sound proud. After more research, I have some more comments. We don't spend money we don't have and we don't spend money when we don't need to. Only idiots and knuckleheads do that. A K-9 service for the surrounding towns in the area should be adequate for large drug busts and man hunts. As for the comment of "parents obtaining drugs for their children" and "the fear of their perfect little child getting in trouble", Please let us know the inside knowledge that you seem to possess. I'm sure, actually, I'm positive, with great faith in the people and resources we already have in this town, we can get those people help. In the mean time, let's try the old fashioned way, where neighbors look out for each other, where citizens stay vigil and on guard. Given the economic times, things may even get worse. May I suggest Matt, that you get yourself a dog. Oh and one more thing…. your right, it would be very, very, very different if it was my car or my house being broken into or one of my neighbors for that matter. Use your imagination…you seem to have one of those…..and remember, Santa knows whose been naughty or nice.

- Sean | 12/7/11 4:59 PM

I'm sure all of you against drug enforcement probably aid your child in obtaining drugs or at least know that they do them and probably don't want your "perfect" child to get in trouble if the HPD were to obtain a drug sniffing K-9. Also, I'm sure you'd have something different to say if it were your car that was stolen or your house being broken into. Initial startup costs for a K-9 are significant but items seized and sold with the help of a k-9 can help pay for some or all initial startup and maintenance costs. You should read this citizen9... this K-9 in the state of Washington can sniff drugs and suspects, its called cross-trainable... http://tdn.com/news/local/article_93ece152-d2a0-11e0-b2eb-001cc4c002e0.html Please people; get a life curb the nonsense. You idiots should take the time to do your research before making ignorant comments. It makes me proud that I live in a town with a bunch of knuckleheads and donkeys!

- Matt | 12/7/11 1:38 PM

While downtown yesterday morning, I heard that rather than waste money on these other options, we would gather with other towns to retain the service of a drone. The initial cost is $25-30K, of course we would have to pay for a technician to operate the drone. But just think of the pride of being state of the art.

- Tunes | 12/7/11 6:51 AM

I think we should hire Santa and a couple of snipers on donkeys and start the process of prop 2.5 and build new toll booths at every entry into town. With the new toll proceeds we can build a fence all around our border. I'm just wondering where all the drugs from the HS are coming from.

- sean | 12/6/11 11:02 AM

I noticed the article doesn't mention in what capacity the k-9 unit was so vital to the apprehension of this suspect. In fact, it gives much more credit to a volunteer at the shrine. There are comments suggesting we aquire a dog to try and curb drug use at the High School. Now don't quote me, but I think dogs can only smell what they are trained to smell (drugs, suspects, explosives, etc). So I don't think we can get a dog that can track suspects and also serve as a drug dog. Also, since we can use the k-9 unit from Ashland, I feel the safety in our community could be better enhanced if we just buy a police helicopter and have it patroling 24 hours a day. The police station has become outdated maybe some money can be thrown at that.

- citizen9 | 12/6/11 6:50 AM

Anyone who reads the police and fire log would know that we've had many occasions to bring in a K-9 unit to search for a suspect. It was fairly clear last winter with all the break-in's in Holliston and the surrounding towns that we could benefit from a K-9 unit. And I agree with HHS parent, help crack down on drug use too.

- TM | 12/5/11 9:40 PM

A dog may be "relatively inexpensive" (Ashland's dog was a $7k gift to the town), but according to the United States Police Canine Association, it typically costs $29k to start a K9 unit. To start, not maintain. Departments often need to purchase special cruisers or reconfigure the ones they have for K9 programs, train officers to work with the dogs for 3 months, etc..

- MK | 12/5/11 9:20 PM

Um, guys, the K9 isn't just for being mean and apprehending perps. If you have a kid in the High School, you'd know that there are drugs all over the school. And guess what? Dogs can sniff drugs. Let's put two and two together, get a police dog, and let our police force do their job with a relatively inexpensive new tool.

- HHS Parent | 12/5/11 5:53 PM

I have to agree with Citizen 2. We may want a dog, but we really don't need one. Even with the dog, "officers from Hopkinton, Ashland, Medway and Holliston" were still needed to apprehend the criminal.

- MK | 12/5/11 3:23 PM

We have one instance of something like this and a few folks are proposing setting up a K-9 unit. It's Holliston people not Dorchester, let's relax no one is coming for you! Wasn't the cost of the Taj Mahal police station that they forced down our throats enough? I like the idea but not the price tag associated with it.

- Citizen2 | 12/5/11 12:29 PM

Once again this shows what an outstanding police deaprtment we have! These men and women are a credit to our town. I fully agree with Chief Moore that we need a K-9 unit.

- Bill Duffy | 12/5/11 8:07 AM

To the Holliston Police Dept. and the other Police Depts. and K9 Unit involved in the foot pursuit, GREAT WORK and thanks ! Once again this shows what an asset it would be to the HPD to have our own K9 !!

- Brett Morrison | 12/4/11 12:47 PM

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