DRACUT — A standoff between a Dracut man inside a home on Lillian Terrace and members of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT Team on Wednesday concluded peacefully with the man’s arrest.
Shortly after 38-year-old Jorge Sanchez was taken into custody by law enforcement at the home, he appeared before Judge Pacifico DeCapua Jr. in Lowell District Court, where he was held without bail pending a 58A dangerousness hearing, scheduled on Thursday.
Sanchez is charged with violating an abuse prevention order for being inside the home.
The Dracut Police said they were called to Lillian Terrace shortly after 8 a.m. for reports of an individual “who had broken into the home and barricaded themselves inside, and was allegedly in possession of a firearm.”
According to police, “through negotiation and successful de-escalation attempts, the individual was safely removed from the home.” The standoff concluded at approximately 12:20 p.m.
No one was injured.
At about 3 p.m., Sanchez appeared in court for his arraignment before Pacifico, who entered a not guilty plea on Sanchez’s behalf.
During the hearing, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Andrew Mange shed some light on the incident, while requesting Sanchez be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
Mange told Pacifico that a complainant had successfully applied for a restraining order against Sanchez. Police served Sanchez with the order at the home on Lillian Terrace on Tuesday, at which time Sanchez was instructed by officers to leave the residence.
Mange said on Wednesday morning Sanchez returned to the home, where he was seen on surveillance cameras by the complainant, who was not home at the time. The complainant then contacted police, who went to the home to arrest Sanchez for violating the order.
According to Mange, the complainant alleged she had recently seen Sanchez in possession of a firearm inside the home. She also alleged he had recently been “walking around with knives inside the house,” Mange said.
As Mange detailed these allegations, Sanchez, who stood shackled in the courtroom, shook his head in silence, as if to refute the claims made against him.
Mange said when police arrived at the home on Lillian Terrace, Sanchez informed police “he was not coming out.” Due to the potential of firearms inside the home, NEMLEC SWAT was summoned to assist with the situation.
During the standoff, Sanchez is alleged to have called and texted the complainant from inside the home.
When Sanchez was taken into custody, Mange said law enforcement did not uncover any weapons on his person. The prosecutor told Pacifico that police were in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the home on Lillian Terrace. The search had not occurred as of Wednesday afternoon, so it is unclear if there were any firearms or other weapons uncovered inside the residence.
Sanchez’s attorney, Larry Colby, told Pacifico his client had informed him there is no gun inside the home.
Colby said Sanchez “might have had knives in the house,” but added during this incident, “there’s no mention he brandished a knife, there’s no mention he brandished a gun, there’s no mention he threatened violence, there’s no mention that he had a gun at the time he was arrested.”
Colby added that Sanchez was taken into custody by police “without a struggle of any sort.”
According to Colby, Sanchez does not have a history of violence, and has not been in legal trouble for more than 20 years. As Mange pointed out, Sanchez was convicted of gun possession in 2002.
“He has been well behaved for a long time,” Colby said. “I suggest there is no necessity to hold him.”
As for why Sanchez was at the home on Wednesday, Colby said his client thought he could go to the residence as long as the complainant was not home.
Despite Colby’s defense, Pacifico ordered Sanchez be held pending Thursday’s dangerousness hearing that will be used to determine if Sanchez poses a threat to the community, and if so, if he should remain behind bars pending the outcome of his case.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis
![WORCESTER — State and local officials responded to a report of a bear that had been walking in a roadway Sunday morning and were thankfully able to relocate it safely. At about 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning, State Police Troopers from the Millbury Barracks received a call that a bear was standing in the middle of […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SEN-L-bear-0501-2.jpg?w=261 "WORCESTER — State and local officials responded to a report of a bear that had been walking in a roadway Sunday morning and were thankfully able to relocate it safely. At about 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning, State Police Troopers from the Millbury Barracks received a call that a bear was standing in the middle of […]")
![In the nationwide atmosphere of heightened scrutiny on the performance of police officers, the Lowell Police Department launched a body-camera pilot program last April that equipped 30 officers – 10 on each shift – with those devices. As part of this initial introduction, then-interim Police Superintendent Barry Golner said the plan was to rotate the […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LOW-L-CAMERAS-040523-1.jpg?w=467 "In the nationwide atmosphere of heightened scrutiny on the performance of police officers, the Lowell Police Department launched a body-camera pilot program last April that equipped 30 officers – 10 on each shift – with those devices. As part of this initial introduction, then-interim Police Superintendent Barry Golner said the plan was to rotate the […]")