HAVERHILL, MASS. (WHDH) - A suspect was taken into custody Monday night hours after a standoff began in Haverhill.
Police said footprints in the snow led them to 37-year-old Carlos Perez, who was wanted in connection with a robbery from last month. Perez allegedly ran into a basement apartment of a house on Franklin Street. The man who lives in the house said he knows Perez and is shocked by the allegations.
“He’s big-hearted. I would never think beyond that. I would never think that he would actually do something like this,” the man said. The man added that he was not home at the time Perez allegedly broke in, but that his basement door was most likely unlocked.
Robert Pistone of the Haverhill Police said Perez pointed a gun at officers while inside, which prompted officers to fire multiple shots. Pistone said several hours later Perez surrendered peacefully and was taken out of the apartment on a stretcher. He was not injured but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
A Haverhill officer with 15 years experience was put on administrative leave but it is not known if he was the one who fired the shots.
A man who claims to have been with Perez before he ran into the basement and says he never saw a gun on the suspect.
“He was just moving around, and looked like he was reaching for something, but it wasn’t a gun,” the unidentified man said. “He basically did that out of fear, to basically scare the cop a little bit so he could have a chance to run out the back.”
Neighbors who live nearby the house describe witnessing helicopters and loud noises.
“I hear officers yelling, ‘Shots fired, shots fired!'” said neighbor Arthur Cheney.
Neighbor Jocelyn Roy said she heard gunfire too as well as helicopters. “The cops started going by. The helicopters came out. My house started shaking because of the helicopters, they were that low.”
Perez will be arraigned on Tuesday.
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