Leicester Man Caught After Day-Long Manhunt, Arsenal Seized
LEICESTER (CBS) -- It took a day to find him, but police say they've captured a fugitive who was on the run since early Saturday morning.
Dean Largesse, 32, was arrested around 10 p.m. Saturday in Royalston State Forest--about 35 miles from his Main Street home in Leicester, where the manhunt began.
Largesse eluded police and K-9 units pursuing him Saturday--at one point stealing a rowboat to get across Waite Pond--until he was eventually cornered and taken into custody by State Police in Royalston.
"This is really a law enforcement officers worst nightmare," Leicester police chief James Hurley told WBZ-TV.
"I can tell you that from the time this incident happened I did not sleep. I was concerned for myself, my fellow officers and the members of our community," he said.
The search began Saturday morning, after Worcester police issued an arrest bulletin for Largesse over a separate incident that took place earlier in the City of Worcester, and asked Leicester police to apprehend him. When officers arrived at his house around 12:30 a.m., they were told he had left about five minutes earlier, fleeing into the woods. A resident also told police he believed he heard a gunshot just before they arrived.
A loaded AR-15 rifle and a backpack containing additional loaded magazines were found near the wood line behind the home. Leicester police said the AR-15 appeared to have blood on it.
A search of Largesse's Main Street home yielded the largest weapons seizure in the Leicester police department's history.
Police found two more guns, more ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and a bulletproof vest.
The State Police's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Unit arrested Largesse around 10 p.m. in Royalston, where information from their investigation had led them to look for the suspect. When police took him into custody, he was wearing a second bulletproof vest and had two more guns.
He was arrested without incident and is being held without bail.
"I just want to say that this was a great job and the best part of the whole thing is that nobody got hurt," Leicester board of selectman chair Dianna Provencher said.
He was charged with carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of building, improperly storing a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Largesse is scheduled to be in East Brookfield District Court Monday morning.
