WOONSOCKET – A city man is facing felony charges after calling police to tell them he had loaded weapons and that he was going to harm Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli Hunt.
Michael Roy, 33, of Woonsocket was arrested following the incident, after which a search of his home turned up loaded firearms and ammunition, according to police.
According to a release from the Woonsocket Police Department, the incident began with a call into the dispatch center at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 23. The caller made threats to harm Baldelli-Hunt, as well as other city and state elected officials according to police.
The man, identified as Roy, claimed to have loaded weapons, and said that he lived just a block from the mayor.
“He threatened to go to the mayor’s house with his guns, and order her out of the house,” the release noted.
The call was reportedly transferred to Sgt. Justin Glode, a night platoon supervisor and special reaction team member, who is also a certified hostage negotiator.
Glode reportedly spoke with Roy for nearly two and a half hours to de-escalate and defuse the caller.
After the call, Roy waited outside his house to surrender himself to officers. With the assistance of a Community Care Alliance clinician, he was reportedly taken into custody and transported to a medical facility for a psychological evaluation.
A subsequent search of the premises yielded several loaded
firearms, and a substantial quantity of ammunition, which were seized by police.
Roy was arraigned in 6th District court on Tuesday, Jan. 5 and is facing a felony charge of threats to public officials.
