By DANIELLE CURTIS
dcurtis@fosters.com
Saturday, January 28, 2012

WAKEFIELD— Police are looking for at least four subjects they believe were involved in an attempted home invasion Tuesday.

According
to police, a male subject went to the door of a local home and knocked
on the door asking for help with his vehicle, which he said was stuck
further up the road.

The male homeowner closed the door and told
the subject he would be out in a minute. He then armed himself with a
pistol and drove up the road to meet the subject, according to Wakefield
Police Lt. Mark O'Brien.

The homeowner found the vehicle was
not stuck upon his arrival and began questioning the subject, who said
the vehicle would not start.

When the homeowner continued to question the subject, the man got into his vehicle and sped away, O'Brien said Friday.

The
homeowner then returned home, where his family was waiting, to call
police and meet a neighbor to check the area. O'Brien said that when the
neighbor walked down the road to see if anyone was still there, the
neighbor noticed three male subjects walking on the road away from the
area of the residence.

Wakefield police responding to the scene did not locate anyone in the area.

According
to O'Brien, an investigation into the incident revealed the situation
was an attempted home invasion, in which the male subject who approached
the residence was likely the decoy, drawing the homeowner away from his
residence so the other men could enter the home.

O'Brien said
police found footprints around the home that led police to the
conclusion that the three men were waiting to enter the residence.

The
subject who went to the door of the home is described as a Hispanic
male, age 25 to 30 years old with a goatee. He reportedly spoke broken
English and drove a Blue Ford Explorer with a New Hampshire license
plate with the first three numbers 318.

While O'Brien declined to
comment on which road was targeted in this invasion attempt, he said it
is a dead-end street that is fairly isolated, and not one that people
would typically be walking on at night.

O'Brien credited the
homeowner's decision to arm himself with a pistol for the failure of the
home invasion, saying that while the homeowner was not waving the gun
or using it improperly, he made sure it was known that he was armed to
the male at the door.

The other three subjects likely saw the gun and were scared off, O'Brien said.

"I think it was very fortunate things turned out the way they did," O'Brien said Friday.

Still,
while this situation ended well, O'Brien urged all local residents to
never let anyone they do not know into their home and to never leave
their home with a subject.

"If there's anything suspicious, we just want people to call us right away," he said.

O'Brien
added that towns such as Wakefield are often targeted by criminals not
only because of their isolated roads, but also because of the fact that
people in towns are often willing to help a stranger.

"Unfortunately,
they prey on people being nice out here," he said. "In a small
community people like to help people — it's just the way the community
is set up."

O'Brien said he does not want to scare the community,
but added that it is important for residents to be aware that something
like this happened in town and to keep a look out for suspicious
activity.

The Wakefield Police Department offers a Firearms
Safety and Home Defense course at the Public Safety Building, O'Brien
said, and will be conducting the course this spring for any interested
locals.

O'Brien said the investigation into Tuesday night's
attempted home invasion is ongoing and that he has provided information
on the case to other local police departments and State Police. So far
there have been no reports of similar incidents in the area.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Wakefield Police Department at 522-3232 or 539-2284.