Police: West Wareham man pulled fire alarm, attacked officers, tried to steal van that was full of children
Theodore S. Lopes Jr. now faces a laundry list of charges.
A West Wareham man was arrested Saturday after allegedly falsely pulling a fire alarm and then trying to steal a van that was full of children — who were not his — while attacking police and paramedics.
Theodore S. Lopes Jr.
Theodore S. Lopes Jr., 35, allegedly pulled the fire alarm at Union Pond Apartments around 7:40 a.m. Saturday, according to a statement from police. When firefighters discovered it was a “malicious false alarm,” they asked Lopes to sit on the rear bumper of the fire engine to be evaluated.
He was acting strangely, according to the statement, and only wearing boxers and a T-shirt.
Lopes then jumped up from the engine’s bumper and tried to open the passenger side door of a parked van, which was running and had small children sitting inside, according to police. The children and their mothers were in the van trying to stay warm after being evacuated, the statement said.
He reportedly managed to get into the van’s driver’s seat, so firefighters and paramedics wrestled him to the ground. That’s when police arrived and handcuffed Lopes. The statement said they also fitted him with leg irons because of his “extremely violent behavior.”
Lopes reportedly continued to struggle and tried to kick officers until he was tased.
After being evaluated at Tobey Hospital, he was booked into the Plymouth County House of Correction and then bailed out.
Lopes is also accused of entering the apartment of a woman and her child and locking the door behind him as the fire alarm went off, biting an officer’s finger, injuring another officer’s hand, punching and elbowing a paramedic, and spitting on a fire captain. A resident of the apartment complex was reportedly also injured while struggling with him by the van.
The charges against Lopes include breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, false fire alarm, resisting arrest, attempted larceny of a motor vehicle, interfering with a firefighter, and three charges of assault and battery.
Lopes was arrainged in Wareham District Court on Monday. He is scheduled to appear in court again later this month, according to WHDH.
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