LONDONDERRY — A man trying to avoid being served an arrest warrant for missing child support payments sparked a 51/2-hour standoff with police yesterday.
The incident finally ended when police stormed a home at 31 Windsor Drive about 6 p.m. and found Richard Berube, 43, wearing a mask and trying to hide under insulation in the rafters of his attic.
It began about noon when police arrived at the home to serve Berube with the arrest warrant. He pretended he wasn't home, even after Officer Shannon Coyle caught him running out the back door.
When she pointed a gun at him and told him to surrender, Berube still didn't give himself up, but ran through the yard and dove back into the house.
Berube then called the Londonderry police station from his cell phone to say that the man Coyle encountered was a workman. He claimed that he wasn't in the house, and was nowhere near Londonderry.
Police didn't buy Berube's ruse, however, and called in the Southern New Hampshire Special Operations Unit. Tactical police, dressed in camouflage and flak jackets, surrounded the house and fanned out into the woods.
Even when police had him surrounded, Berube stuck to his original story.
He did not respond, open the door or answer the telephone inside the home when police urged him to cooperate.
Pretending he was miles away from Londonderry, Berube made "sporadic" calls over his cell phone during the rest of the afternoon, according to Londonderry police Lt. Scott Saunders. Saunders took one of the calls and said Berube explained that he was "up in Franconia."
Berube told Saunders his workman "freaked out" when he saw police and ran away. He said the house was empty. No one was home.
"I didn't believe him," Saunders said with a chuckle.
After hours of waiting, police fired four gas canisters through the windows just before 5 p.m. Moments later, officers broke down the front door with a battering ram and began searching the home.
Ultimately, police found Berube in the attic, and this time, he did not attempt to flee. He was arrested about 6 p.m. and led out of the house by police, shirtless and covered in insulation from the attic.
No one was hurt during the standoff, but Londonderry police took Berube to Parkland Medical Center about 7 p.m. after he complained of shoulder pain while being booked at the police station.
Berube was charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, for failing to obey Coyle, according to Saunders. He is being held on $10,000 bail, plus $18,297.84 bail from the contempt case for missing child support payments. He is to be arraigned this morning in Derry District Court.
Berube's ex-wife, Leslie Carpenter, was trying to sue Berube for about $10,000 in missed child support payments and $10,297.84 in attorney's fees he was ordered to pay, according to court papers.
His ex-wife asked the court to hold him in contempt, and Berube failed to appear at the hearing.
Saunders said he does not anticipate other Londonderry charges but police will have to review the case.
He said Londonderry police made the decision to call in the tactical unit about 12:20 p.m. after Coyle called for backup. The officers attempted to persuade Berube to come out peacefully and were ignored.
"At that point, we had a barricaded subject," Saunders said. He declined to say if Berube has a criminal record, but said police had reason to use caution.
Capt. William Hart said when the standoff began, police were not sure if Berube had anyone else in the house with him or if he had any weapons. Hart said police were hopeful they could get Berube out of the house "in a peaceful and secure manner."
Saunders could not say last night if any weapons were found in the house.
Police blocked off Windsor Boulevard from Mammoth Road to Merlin Place while they waited for the tactical unit to arrive. The streets stayed off limits to traffic for the duration of the standoff, causing some snarls for school buses.
School Superintendent Nate Greenberg said the School Department was made aware of the situation before school was dismissed. He estimated that 15 to 20 students live near where the standoff occurred. Greenberg said parents were notified, and some buses were rerouted.
Some parents had to leave their cars on Windsor Street and walk a short distance home with their children. The neighborhood was not evacuated.
A neighbor, Ann Marie Gelsomini, said Berube has lived in the house for years, but it was recently put up for sale. Gelsomini said she had not seen anyone around the house for some time.
