Rowdy Court Appearance For Captured Fugitive
BARNSTABLE (CBS) – It took several armed guards to bring a convicted killer into court Wednesday to face charges in connection with a kidnapping case.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
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39-year-old Phillip DePasquale was wanted on several charges, including kidnapping and robbery, when he was arrested in Barnstable late Tuesday night.
"I didn't kidnap anybody," DePasquale told reporters as he was escorted into District Court Wednesday.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields reports
As many as five court officers had to drag him into the courtroom and keep him restrained. He waved at a television camera, made an obscene gesture and exchanged words with the guards.
The judge ordered him to behave, but DePasquale claimed one of the officers was threatening him.
So the arraignment was cut short, DePasquale was sent back to his holding cell to cool off and the hearing was resumed a short time later.
At the end of the proceeding, he clapped a few times before he was taken out of the courtroom.
THE ARREST
DePasquale was arrested Tuesday night after a wild high-speed chase on the Cape, just hours after he was put on the state's Ten Most Wanted List.
Police say he was driving a stolen car when he hit a Barnstable police cruiser at about 9 p.m.
"Depasquale drove his vehicle into the cruiser driven by Lt. Balcom," said prosecutor Matt Kelly at the arraignment. "(He) then accelerated to over 100 mph, before crashing at exit 4 on the mid-Cape highway."
He drove off and later crashed into a tree.
THE KIDNAPPING
DePasquale was wanted for a series of break-ins in the Hyannis area and for allegedly kidnapping and robbing a developmentally disabled 27-year-old woman in Hopkinton last month.
Police say he left her tied up in an abandoned, unheated RV in Oxford during a snow storm. She eventually escaped.
DePasquale has a long criminal history. Police say he was recently released from prison after serving time for manslaughter.
He was arraigned in Barnstable on the break-in charges. He will be arraigned next week in Dudley on the kidnapping charges.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields contributed to this report.
