Crime & Safety
Hours-Long Standoff Ends After 2 Suspects Surrender
Route 1, which was closed down during the incident, reopened around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
By Kyle Stucker
Hampton-North Hampton Patch editor
The two individuals who barricaded themselves in their neighbor's Hampton Falls home after being caught with numerous stolen items turned themselves in Tuesday evening to SWAT negotiators, ending a lengthy standoff.
Lafayette Road (Route 1) was closed from the Seabrook line to the intersection with Route 88 during the standoff, reopening after Darren Gragg, 36, and Melissa Amato, 32, were taken into custody.
New Hampshire State Police Director Col. Robert Quinn said negotiators were able to convince the suspects to walk out the door of their neighbor's 24 Lafayette Road, Apt. 8, home and end the standoff after an "extended period" of talks.
The pair had reportedly broke into Amanda Rich's apartment, unit 7, through a shared space in their building, Rich told Patch in an interview about the "nerve-wracking" incident. Rich told Patch that Gragg and Amato own multiple guns, although Quinn declined to confirm that and other details of the standoff Tuesday.
Gragg and Amato were each charged with a single count burglary, and police say additional charges are likely forthcoming against the pair.
Police first attempted to take Gragg and Amato into custody in Amesbury, Mass., after they were found sleeping in a vehicle outside a gas station convenience store around 7:30 a.m., according to Amesbury Sgt. Bill Scholtz.
Scholtz said the business' owner reported the vehicle as "suspicious." When police responded, Gragg and Amato provided false identification before fleeing the area.
Amesbury police didn't pursue their vehicle, though, because of the "time of day" and the fact that "school was in session," according to Scholtz.
The pair left at least 10 undisclosed stolen items behind at the Amesbury store, and Scholtz said his department is working to identify the owners of those items and the owners of what he said could be "dozens" of other stolen items that belong to individuals all over northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
"It's obvious these items didn't belong to them," said Scholtz.
Hampton Falls Police Chief Robbie Dirsa alerted Amesbury police to the location of the vehicle later in the morning after Amesbury sent out alerts about the vehicle. Scholtz said the vehicle was easily "identifiable" for undisclosed reasons, and Hampton Falls police responded to 24 Lafayette Road, Apt. 7, around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to speak with Gragg and Amato.
Hampton Falls police requested the aid of SWAT units and the New Hampshire State Police after Gragg and Amato fled into Rich's apartment and refused to leave.
Police bullhorns were reportedly heard issuing commands to the pair.
Quinn declined to say how negotiators were able to convince Gragg and Amato to leave the home, but he commended the negotiators' hard work and the cooperation of all of the agencies involved — something he said was "paramount" to the investigation and a positive resolution.
Dirsa also commended the law enforcement members involved in the incident and investigation.
"We're pleased to see this incident peacefully end," he said.
Gragg's bail was set at $150,000 and Amato's was set at $100,000. Both are scheduled for arraignment in Seabrook District Court on Wednesday.
Police said the investigation into the standoff and the parallel investigation into the thefts that led to the standoff are ongoing.
Scholtz said his department will continue its investigation and wait until Gragg and Amato are arraigned on the New Hampshire charges before his department files charges of its own. He said the suspects will "at some point" be brought back to Massachusetts.
Scholtz said there are likely "quite a bit more" burglaries and thefts to which the pair may have ties.
Quinn also made remarks during a press conference Tuesday night about the need to shut down Route 1 for an extended period of time.
"I cannot stress enough that the decision to shut this road down was based on safety," said Quinn.
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