PD: Man Who Broke Into Vacated Wesleyan Apartment Led Police on Foot Chase

A city man who disturbed a family's late-night cookout broke into an empty apartment house owned by Wesleyan University and , according to Middletown Police.

On May 31 at 10:30 p.m., police were called about a suspicious person in a man's backyard on Cross Street while he was in the yard having a cookout. 

The witness told police the man asked if he could "party with him," and he told him to leave so he could enjoy his family evening. A half-hour later, the report says, the man was seen walking around another house in the neighborhood on Fountain Avenue, turning a sequence of lights on and off inside, then carrying a blue pillowcase outside. 

When a police cruiser approached the man who matched the suspect's description, Ronald Tasker, 47, of Bow Lane, the report says, he ran away. The pursuing officer yelled multiple times for Tasker to stop running, but he crawled away into some bushes, jumped over a chain-link fence and was eventually caught near Neon Deli on Cross Street.

Tasker denied carrying a pillowcase, the report says. A Wesleyan University public safety officer told police the home belonged to the university and had been vacated recently by graduating students. 

The front door, police say, was forced open and damaged, and a large blue plastic bag full of clothing and belongings was found discarded in the basement by the hatchway. Two Busch Light beer cans, one empty and the other half full, police say, were there as well. 

After refusing to admit he was in the house, Tasker then said he was, but only because he thought his friend lived there. Later, Tasker said he thought about sleeping there but decided against it, consumed between six and seven drinks in the past few hours, and therefore couldn't remember how he had gotten inside.

He was charged with second-degree criminal trespass, third-degree criminal mischief and interfering with an officer.