Man Threatens Cops With Dog During Stand-Off

Police say a man barricaded himself into the crawl space of a Monroe Place home during a stand-off with police, during which he threatened officers with a dog.

At approximately 2:12 a.m. on April 1, several Bloomfield officers responded to a public disturbance call in the area of Broad Street and Liberty Street, according to reports. 

Officer Michael Malia reportedly saw two men yelling at each other from opposite sides of the street when he arrived.

A 23-year-old man from Bloomfield reportedly told police he called 911 after leaving a local liquor store, because a man —later identified as Anthony Pate — followed him and screamed at him, apparently trying to antagonize him into a fight.

When officers tried to talk to Pate, he reportedly ignored their commands to stop and instead walked to a residence on Monroe Place where he barricaded himself on the porch of the home and became combative when police confronted him, reports state.

Pate, 36, of East Orange, reportedly also agressively held a dog and threatened to command the dog to attack the officers. 

The officers ordered Pate to put the dog on a leash and surrender. Pate reportedly scrambled into a crawl space under the porch of the house and put his dog between himself and police. 

Animal Control arrived on the scene and assisted Officers Argenis Vargas and Godson Noel, who had to crawl under the porch to handle the dog and remove Pate in order to place him under arrest.

Pate was charged with resisting arrest, obstruction, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, disorderly conduct, three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and criminal mischief.

Judge Vincent Pirone set bail at $170,000, pending an April 5 court date.