Watch Mass. State Police Use Chopper's Infrared to Find Suspect

June 28, 2022

A Massachusetts State Police helicopter used infrared imaging to locate a 45-year-old man who was accused of threatening and assaulting beachgoers in Falmouth.

By Aspen Pflughoeft

Source The Charlotte Observer

A weekend beachgoer was told he needed a sticker to park at the local beach. So he pulled out a knife, police said.

At 6:31 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, 2022, police in Falmouth, Massachusetss, responded to a call about a man assaulting people at Chapoquoit Beach, about 70 miles south of Boston.

The Falmouth Police department said in a statement to McClatchy News that the incident reportedly began because the suspect was “upset that he needed a sticker to park at the beach.”

Officials said the man became “very agitated” with the parking lot attendant and threatened the attendant before leaving the area. He returned later in the day and slashed the tires on a vehicle, and assaulted and threatened people with a knife, police said.

The suspect fled the scene before the police arrived.

Officers searched the area with a police K-9 and helicopter, the statement said. “Using infrared imaging, the Air 5 crew was able to locate the wanted subject hiding aboard a boat off the coast of a peninsula,” state police reported.

Officers on the ground ferried out to the boat and apprehended the suspect without incident.

Police charged the 45-year-old Massachusetts man with two counts of assault and battery, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of threatening to commit a crime, two counts of property vandalization, intimidation of a witness, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and breaking and entering a vehicle or boat.

The man was held without bail Sunday night and taken to a district court on Monday for an arraignment, police reported.

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