A 19-year-old Connecticut man who works on Block Island is to be arraigned today on charges of shooting at a state trooper and local police officers.

01:24 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006

BY RANDAL EDGAR
Journal Staff Writer

NEW SHOREHAM -- A 19-year-old Connecticut man shattered the early summer calm and sent police officers ducking for cover Sunday night during a bizarre chase that culminated with gunshots and ended with a struggle along the beach, the police said.

Before it was over, Ernesto A. Lacayo, of 1746 Stratfield Rd., Fairfield, Conn., allegedly had fired five rounds: three at a state police trooper who saw him walking up to the island police station with a shotgun, and two at local officers who spotted him in the dunes near Scotch Beach.

All the shots missed, and the police were able to arrest Lacayo without firing back after he dropped his rifle in the dunes and tried to flee, said State Police Maj. Steven G. O'Donnell.

In a news conference yesterday at state police headquarters, in Scituate, O'Donnell said the police believe Lacayo had one thing in mind when Trooper Michael Reynolds saw him walking across the police station lawn.

"We believe, clear-cut, that he was walking into that police station to kill police officers," O'Donnell said.

The chase sequence began at about 7:45 Sunday night, when Reynolds -- one of two state troopers assigned to the island for the weekend -- pulled up at the police station and saw Lacayo walking across the lawn with a shotgun, the state police said.

Lacayo aimed the gun at him, prompting Reynolds to duck behind the police car, O'Donnell said.

When Reynolds looked up again, Lacayo was running to a black, 1997 Honda Civic. He got in and drove east on Beach Avenue, then turned left and headed north on Corn Neck Road, striking several traffic signs, O'Donnell said, while driving about 10 to 15 mph.

Lacayo got out of the car near the dunes at Scotch Beach, O'Donnell said, and fired three rounds at the right side of Reynolds' police car -- one while Reynolds was in the car, and two after he had gotten out and crouched along the left side.

Lacayo then fled into the dunes, O'Donnell said. When two Block Island officers pulled up nearby in a patrol car, Lacayo fired two rounds at the front of the car, prompting the officers to back up, O'Donnell said.

Reynolds, on foot, then spotted Lacayo in the dunes and aimed his gun at him. Lacayo dropped his shotgun, out of ammunition, and tried to flee, running into Trooper Darren Delaney, O'Donnell said.

Lacayo reportedly struggled with the officers and tried to pull a knife from his backpack before he was placed under arrest.

Besides the buck knife, Lecayo was found to be carrying a list of police officers' names and addresses in his backpack, O'Donnell said. The officers were not local, he said.

Lacayo was brought to the mainland by boat yesterday, and was held last night at the Adult Correctional Institutions for lack of $500,000 cash bail, O'Donnell said. He is to be arraigned today in District Court.

Lacayo is charged with seven counts of assault with intent to commit murder; one count of assault with a dangerous weapon; and one count of using a firearm while committing a crime of violence.

O'Donnell said the police in Rhode Island and Connecticut are trying to piece together Lacayo's recent activities, to determine what prompted the incidents on Sunday night.

O'Donnell said Lacayo has a job on the island, but would not say where or what sort.

It was amazing that no one was hit by Lacayo's shots, he said.

Reynolds was about 25 yards away when Lacayo fired, and the Block Island officers were about 25 feet away, O'Donnell said. Lacayo was firing buck shot, which sprays a wide swath of pellets.

Police Chief Vincent Carline said there were at least two people in the station at the time of the incident -- an officer and a dispatcher. Reynolds' stop at the station as Lacayo was walking across the lawn happened by chance, O'Donnell said.

Asked why no one fired back, O'Donnell said the Block Island officers didn't have a chance because Lacayo caught them by surprise. In Reynolds' case, he said the trooper's first concern was to take cover.

The police found more ammunition in the Honda Civic, which was registered to Lacayo's mother, and also found some that Lacayo dropped when fleeing from Reynolds, O'Donnell said.

O'Donnell said Lacayo does not have an adult record, but has some incidents in his past. According to reports in the Connecticut Post and Fairfield Citizen News, he was charged last year with third-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief and fifth-degree burglary, after he was accused of stealing one cash register and breaking into two others at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

Carlone said the shooting Sunday was the first he could remember on the island since former Police Chief Vincent McAloon was shot in the leg some 20 years ago.

redgar@projo.com / (401) 277-7418