University athletes were interrupted from their team practices on Monday afternoon by Public Safety officers, who warned them of an armed man in the area.
Local resident Mark Ocasio led local and state police, their canine units, and the Middletown SWAT team on a 12-hour manhunt in Middletown and Mansfield, to the northeast, after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in their Daddario Road residence, reported the Hartford Courant.
“It began as a verbal argument over the relationship which escalated into a physical assault,” said Middletown Police Lt. Margaret Liseo to the Hartford Courant.
Ocasio fled the dispute, which took place at 3 p.m., before police arrived, and entered nearby woods.
“We believe he left the residence with a knife,” Liseo reported to the Hartford Courant.
During the chase, Ocasio was sighted on South Main Street and on University property on Long Lane.
Public Safety directed all athletic teams to practice closer to the main campus. Kai Johnson ’08 was practicing with the club soccer team on the Wadsworth Street rugby field near Long Lane when another student approached.
“She said that Public Safety told her she should head back to campus because someone [was in the area],” Johnson said. “They were making all people practice closer to the school.”
Cross-country runner Nick Holowka ’07 was forced to alter his regular training course.
“We were told that we had to stay away from Long Lane,” Holowka said. “We could only run near Route 66.”
Meanwhile, Middletown Police locked down nearby Snow Elementary School and stopped athletic practices at Middletown and Mercy High Schools. Police asked Snow School parents to gather in the Freeman Athletic Center until the school re-opened for dismissal.
At approximately 4:30 p.m., Public Safety approached the club soccer team and announced that it must move again, to a fenced-in area.
“[They said that] this guy is still on the loose,” Johnson said. “He could be hiding in a tree.”
“[A Public Safety officer] said that they weren’t sure whether this guy had a gun or not,” Holowka said. “They didn’t know where he was.
Some students heard that, at one ”point, Ocasio was inside Freeman. The claim was later proven false. Others heard that he had murdered his girlfriend and had gone on a psychotic rampage.
“Mostly, what we heard were the rumors,” Holowka said.
At approximately 5 p.m., search helicopters could be seen overhead.
“That was the thing that made me think that we should maybe [leave the area],” Johnson said.
“It didn’t throw anyone’s schedule off too much,” said cross-country runner Mike Brady ’07, noting that the football team simply relocated to the inside field.
Ocasio left the Middletown area without harming any bystanders. He eventually surrendered to police at 3 a.m. in Mansfield.
The surrender took place without any trouble, Liseo said in the Hartford Courant.
Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed charged Ocasio with second-degree assault, second-degree threatening, and two counts of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $25,000. Ocasio is prohibited from contacting his girlfriend, who suffered a bruised eye.
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