Police and Fire News

Harwich police officer shoots suspect

   Investigators at the scene of a police shooting early Monday evening off Willow Street
in West Harwich. Photo by David G. Curran.

Harwich police officer shoots domestic dispute suspect
Third police shooting on Cape this year 

A Harwich police officer who felt threatened for his life shot and wounded a suspect sought in a domestic dispute early Monday evening.

The suspect, Marcus Miranda Jr., 29, of Harwich, was taken by ambulance to Cape Cod Hospital with a leg wound that apparently wasn't life-threatening.

The shooting occurred shortly after 6 p.m. in a wooded area near Willow Street in West Harwich, not far from Route 28 and close to the Dennis-Harwich town line.

Harwich and Dennis police had been searching for Miranda, a suspect in a domestic dispute.

A Harwich police officer, whose identity remained undisclosed early Tuesday morning, found Miranda and, following a confrontation, shot him.

"Our officer fired in defense of his life," Lieut. Thomas Gagnon told the Cape Cod Times.

State police detectives from the Crime Prevention and Control (CPAC) unit, which is assigned to the Cape and Islands District Attorney's office, are investigating the incident.

Monday's incident is the third police-related shooting on the Cape this year.

On July 27, Yarmouth Police Officer Christopher Van Ness shot and killed Brazilian national Andre Martins following a brief car chase. In a Sept. 19 report, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe cleared Van Ness in the shooting.

On Jan. 27, the Cape Cod Times has reported, Andrew Parker, 24, of Plymouth and Buzzards Bay, was shot in the leg by Barnstable County Deputy Sheriff Patrick Martin after a search following a hit-and-run car accident. In May, the newspaper reported, O'Keefe ruled that shooting justified.

Police arrest man following drug raid

DENNISPORT — A Nantucket man faces drug trafficking charges following a police raid late Friday morning at a house at 78 Telegraph Road in Dennisport.

Kenson Phillips, 27, of 6 Norquarta Drive has been charged with two counts of possession of a Class B drug with intent to distribute — cocaine and ecstasy —  and one count of possession of a Class E drug, Zoloft.

Dennis Police Lieut. Martin Murphy said the raid followed a two-month investigation.

According to police, a search of Phillips and the premises turned up about 24 grams of ecstasy with a value of $2,000, a gram of cocaine, a small number of Zoloft tablets and $1,000 in cash.

Officers of the Dennis police, the Drug Enforcement Administration Cape Cod Task Force, the Cape Cod Regional Swat Team and the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office executed the search warrant at the Telegraph Road property.