Standoff Suspects Tried to Escape By Hiding, Ditching Car

New details emerged Wednesday about the events leading up to a local man and woman who started an hours-long standoff Tuesday with police in Hampton Falls after allegedly being caught with stolen items in Massachusetts.

Court documents released as part of the arraignments of the suspects — Daren Gragg, 37, and Melissa Amato, 31, both of 24 Lafayette Road, Apt. 7, in Hampton Falls — indicate that the couple eluded police by convincing an Amesbury, Mass., individual to drive them to Hampton Falls.

Click here for a story about the suspect's arraignments and the dozens of new charges coming forth against them.

Gragg and Amato had been found sleeping in their gold rental car, bearing New Jersey plates, in an Amesbury, Mass., convenience store's parking lot around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

When approached by police, Gragg and Amato allegedly identified themselves as "Daniel Dato" and "Kelley Dato," according to an incident report by Hampton Falls Police Lt. Tom Boynton.

Gragg and Amato fled due to the police questioning, leaving dozens of stolen items behind before driving their gold vehicle over to an Amesbury home. Police have since linked those stolen IDs, credit cards and personal property to owners in Hampton, Seabrook, Portsmouth and Salem, in addition to owners in Methuen and Amesbury, Mass. Police are still working to identify the owners of many additional items.

NECN has reported that Amesbury police have said the couple had allegedly been doing construction work on the home, and that they convinced a subcontractor on the property Tuesday to give them a ride to Hampton Falls in a separate vehicle, presumably to avoid capture.

Mandi Werner, a Rockingham County Attorney's Office prosecutor, told Patch Wednesday that Gragg and Amato left the gold rental car at the Amesbury home, but not before covering it with a tarp in an alleged attempt to conceal it from police.

Werner said Hampton Falls police answered an Amesbury BOLO about the gold vehicle, and local officers and troopers were able to locate Gragg and Amato at 24 Lafayette Road in Hampton Falls because Hampton Falls police had previously seen the vehicle at that address.

Gragg and Amato used a shared storage space between their apartment and their neighbor's — Apt. 8 — to break into their neighbor's apartment, which is where they barricaded themselves until surrendering to police at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The neighbor, Amanda Rich, has told Patch that the ordeal was "nerve-wracking."

Gragg and Amato were both arraigned Wednesday morning in Seabrook District Court on one count each of felony burglary and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Both are being held at the Rockingham County House of Corrections on $110,000 cash bail and both are scheduled for separate probable cause hearings at 11 a.m. on Jan. 29.

Amesbury police have said they will continue their investigation into the thefts, which involved Gragg and Amato allegedly stealing items from cars in which they had broken into, before issuing charges. Investigators believe there could be dozens of other theft cases involving Gragg and Amato.

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