Carjacking Suspect Quickly Arrested Saturday Morning

Photo courtesy Bedford Police Department

BEDFORD, MA - A carjacking suspect was quickly apprehended Saturday morning thanks to police dispatchers and officers in both Bedford and Carlisle.

Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno and Carlisle Police Chief John C. Fisher Saturday are praising the swift and accurate work of police dispatchers and police officers from both communities who worked together to apprehend a carjacking suspect.

Shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to Northside Convenience on North Road for a report of a carjacking and kidnapping.

When officers arrived, they spoke with a man who told police he had stopped at the gas station with his wife. He went inside the store, while his wife remained in their Ford Ranger pickup truck. When he came outside, he witnessed his vehicle being driven away with his wife inside. The vehicle proceeded down Rte. 225 toward Carlisle.

Bedford Police Emergency Communications Officers, working at the police station, immediately relayed information about the vehicle over an areawide radio network. Police in neighboring Carlisle were included in the transmission, and Carlisle Police Sgt. Scott Barnes quickly found the vehicle and was able to conduct a traffic stop. Bedford officers arrived minutes later.

Officers arrested Michael Sullivan, 35, of Quincy without further incident, and the woman in the vehicle was unharmed.

Sullivan was taken to the Bedford Police Station for processing and was charged with Carjacking.

Chief Bongiorno praised the readiness and teamwork shown by police and communications officers.

“We are very fortunate in Bedford to have one of the lowest rates of crime in the Commonwealth, but that only underscores the importance of training and preparation by all members of the Bedford Police Department, and that showed today,” Chief Bongiorno said in a statement issued Saturday. “I am equally proud of the teamwork and partnerships established by our department with our neighboring communities.”

Chief Fisher praised his officers, especially Sgt. Barnes, who stopped the vehicle.

“During a crime in progress, minutes and seconds can make a tremendous difference,” Chief Fisher said in the same statement. “Sgt. Barnes was in the right position to take immediate action to end this situation without harm coming to anyone involved.”

Sullivan is being held on $10,000 cash bail pending his arraignment Monday in Concord District Court.