UNBELIEVABLE: Shoplifter takes advantage of snowstorm… running with about $600 in goods… wouldn’t show hands… stopped at gunpoint… could have been shot!
HYANNIS – HN was close by when an officer didn’t respond to his radio. Patrolman Brendan Burchell and a CVS store detective were last heard on the radio chasing what turned out to be a felony shoplifter up Bassett Lane.
At about 6:40pm, Burchell had just been dispatched to assist CVS loss prevention on North Street after a suspect took advantage of the heavy snow and poor road conditions by deciding to run off with what turned out to be nearly $600 dollars in merchandise.
The suspect was running fast toward the area of the skating rink when the store detective observed him turn down an alley toward the rear of the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. The store detective also relayed to police that the suspect was scaling a tall chain-link fence.
After that there was a period of radio silence.
HN was nearby and had a gut feeling where the pursuit likely ended. Concerned that Burchell wasn’t answering his radio HN turned into a parking lot behind the Mazda Dealership on Stevens Street.
According to a witness, Burchell needed to draw his service weapon after confronting the suspect. There were some tense moments when the suspect refused to take one of his hands out of his pocket. Thankfully the suspect finally smartened-up and complied just before Burchell went hands-on and took him to the ground.
HN arrived just as Patrolman Burchell apparently had everything under control all by himself, with the CVS store detective standing nearby.
The store detective recovered a bag of almost $600 in Crest Whitestrips, along with other expensive items.
The suspect also had hypodermic needles in one of his pockets…
Jeremy Vanstaats, age 29, was arrested and transported to BPD Headquarters for booking and processing. He’s looking at charges related to shoplifting/larceny. Because of the amount stolen, the larceny charge will likely be a felony. It’s uncertain if the suspect will be facing additional charges related to the circumstances surrounding the arrest. The incident was still being investigated at the time of this report.
(HN was unable to get a close look at the suspect’s teeth, so it remains uncertain whether or not Vanstaats had a tooth whitening issue…)
But the most important thing is that Officer Burchell is safe and sound tonight. Things could have easily turned toward the gravest extreme, changing the lives of all those involved forever.
2/14/2015
Robert Bastille,
P.S. – Tonight's HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Boz Scaggs... [Crank it]
