Wellesley Police Chief Nabs Fugitive With Citizens' Help

When you cross the Wellesley police, you're messing with their whole family – which includes the people of Wellesley, as one fugitive discovered this afternoon.

At about 5:45 p.m., a man on a motorcycle fleeing Natick Police made a fateful decision to do his fleeing in Wellesley, according to a release e-mailed this afternoon.

Wellesley police joined the chase, which continued on foot near Rte. 9 and the Westside Gas Station.

Police Chief Terrence M. Cunningham nabbed the man, who was hiding in the bushes on Cleveland Road after gaining information on the man's last location from alert Cleveland Road Residents,  according to an e-mail alert on the incident.

"He ran right past me," said Lisa Siegel of Cleveland Road, "If I'd have known (he was being chased  by police) I could have tripped him."

At first, she said, she thought the man was running for help, because he was bleeding from scrapes on his belly, side and elbow. Siegel also noticed the man wasn't wearing a shirt, an unusual sight on Cleveland Road. She watched the man run into a neighbor's yard and then saw two plain-clothed officers run through the neighborhood.

"That's when I realized they were chasing him," Siegel said, so she pointed out where the man had run. The officers took her direction, and a few moments later, she heard her neighbor also pointing out the man's path. The officers returned, Siegel said, and said the man had headed back her way. Siegel said she hadn't seen the man come back, so the police began checking bushes and found the man hiding. 

"They drew their guns. It was all very dramatic," Siegel said. The officers arrested the man, handcuffed him and called an ambulance to treat his wounds.

" Many residents on Martin Road and Pilgrim Road were also very helpful," the alert states.

The man was turned over to Natick Police.

"I think the Wellesley Police did a wonderful job," Siegel said.