Crime & Safety

Swat Team Arrests Glen Street Man Without Incident

The NEMLEC Special Operations Unit was called in due to the Melrose resident having at least two firearms in the house.

called in a regional swat team to assist in the arrest of a Glen Street man on Saturday afternoon, after police learned that the man had at least two guns inside his home.

Melrose Police Lt. Mark DeCroteau said that the NEMLEC (North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council) Special Operations Unit—commonly called a 'swat team'—is specially trained for and called in during situations where a person who is sought by law enforcement officials is inside a building and may have a firearm.

After a briefing at the Melrose Police station, the NEMLEC team went to the home on Glen Street and had the man come out of the home without incident. Gary J. Bagarella, 58, 62 Glen St., Melrose, was arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon on someone over 60, two counts of threat to commit a crime and intimidating a witness.

Find out what's happening in Melrosewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Shortly before 1 p.m. on Saturday, a woman came into the Melrose Police station with family members to report she was concerned that her husband was upset over a domestic situation that had occurred on Friday night, DeCroteau said.

"They reported to us that her husband had a license to carry firearms and did indeed have at least two firearms in his possession," he said, adding that it was "at least two handguns and ammunition."

Find out what's happening in Melrosewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After Melrose Police informed the woman of her rights to obtain a restraining order and taking down the initial report of the incident that occurred on Friday night, of which DeCroteau declined to elaborate on, Melrose Police "determined there was a public safety issue involved in the situation here," DeCroteau said.

The officer-in-charge was advised through Melrose Police Chief Mike Lyle to activate the Special Operations Unit from NEMLEC, a regional consortium of local police departments, including Melrose, and sheriff's offices.

"To safely remove the individual, based on the facts and circumstances involved in the domestic situation, it was determined there was probable cause to make an arrest," DeCroteau said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.