CUSHING — A Thomaston man is behind bars after police said he was caught breaking into vehicles in Cushing early Sunday morning and then smashed out the rear window of a cruiser in which he was being transported and fled.
David Alvarez Knox County Jail
David Alvarez, 34, was quickly re-apprehended. Alvarez was charged with two counts of burglary of a motor vehicle, aggravated criminal mischief, possession of a firearm by a felon, escape, and violation of probation, according to Knox County Sheriff Tim Carroll.
According to the sheriff, shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Knox County Regional Communications Center sent deputies to a residence on River Road in Cushing for a complaint of ongoing burglaries of motor vehicles. The caller said they were awoken by a noise and when they looked outside, they could see someone going through their vehicles. At one point, the suspect was reportedly seen holding a rifle.
Deputy Vitaly St. Thomas arrived first and quickly apprehended the suspect and placed him in a cruiser. The residents did not recognize the suspect.
While en route to the Knox County Jail in Rockland, St. Thomas said, the man, while handcuffed in the back seat of the cruiser, first smashed his head against the partition and then twice against the passenger-side rear window.
As the deputy stopped his vehicle on Main Street in Thomaston, the suspect broke the rear window and escaped the cruiser. St. Thomas chased the suspect on foot. The suspect jumped a guard rail and fell down an embankment.
St. Thomas again restrained the suspect and walked him back to the cruiser, where Sgt. Arthur Smith had arrived to assist. Smith determined the suspect’s identity, police said.
Smith took Alvarez to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport for a medical evaluation of possible injuries from using his head to smash his way out of the cruiser. Once Alvarez was cleared medically, St. Thomas took him to the jail.
Alvarez remains at the jail. He is likely to make his initial appearance in the Knox County court on Monday afternoon.
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