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 Courant.com
- June 5, 2008
Man Charged In Windsor Locks Home Invasion
By Hilda Munoz, Courant Staff Writer
WINDSOR LOCKS - Police on Wednesday charged
a Suffield man in connection with an early morning burglary
and shooting on Maple Avenue.
Neil Gardner, 31, of 583 Halladay Ave.,
was arrested at 5:30 p.m. at Rockville Hospital, where police
followed a tip about his location, Sgt. Richard Post said.
Gardner was charged with home invasion
with a deadly weapon, second-degree burglary with a firearm,
reckless endangerment, threatening and breach of peace. His
bail was set at $300,000 and he was scheduled for arraignment
today in Superior Court in Enfield.
Members of the North Central Municipal
Regional Response Team, the West Hartford Police Department
SWAT team and police from several departments responded to
the scene of the burglary, where shots were fired early Wednesday,
evacuating residents from nearby homes until they determined
no one was in danger.
A resident at 18 Maple Ave. called 911
shortly before 5 a.m. and reported that a man known to the
family had broken into the house through a kitchen window
and was armed with two shotguns, said Police Chief John Suchocki.
The residents, six adults, retreated to
the second floor and stayed in touch with Windsor Locks police
dispatchers. Officers were dispatched and, upon arriving,
heard what they believed were gunshots, Suchocki said.
A dispatcher also reported hearing gunshots
over the phone.
Laurie Roberts, who lives in a building
next door, said she heard a vehicle speed down the street.
"It sounded like screaming at first,"
she said.
The speeding truck pulled into the parking
lot. The driver got out and knocked on the side door of the
brick building, which is known in the neighborhood as "the
castle."
Roberts said she heard glass break and
saw the man climbing through the window on the side porch.
She said she heard an argument and later saw the man leave
the building and get back inside his truck, but the truck
wouldn't start.
"He got out, went around the side of the
building. That's when I heard the shot," Roberts said. "I
don't know if he was inside."
The SWAT team secured the scene, Suchocki
said.
Maple Avenue, a short street that ends
in a cul-de-sac, and a section of North Main Street were closed
for a time.
Neighbor Gina Marie Lane said she was
afraid for herself and her family during the incident.
"I was awoken by SWAT at my house to evacuate
myself, my mother and my grandmother," Lane said.
Her grandmother was unable to leave the
house, she said, so SWAT members stayed inside with her mother
and grandmother until the area was secured.
"We're a quiet town and a quiet street,
so this is brand new for all of us," Lane said.
Courant Staff Writers Alan Chaniewski
and Shawn Beals contributed to this report. Contact Hilda
Munoz at hmunoz@courant.com.
Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant
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