The man who became known as the Blackstone Valley sniper after a string of attacks on residents there two decades ago is being held by Warwick police pending a hearing today in Kent County Court.

A SWAT team arrested Peter T. Trepanier on Tuesday at a house where he had been living in Warwick since his release from the Adult Correctional Institutions, said Warwick Police Lt. Jeffrey Enos.

Trepanier is being held on a four-year-old outstanding warrant from Bellingham, Mass., for a 1986 incident in which he was charged with assault with intent to murder, Channel 10 reported yesterday.

Warwick police discovered the outstanding warrant in the course of a routine background check when Trepanier applied for subsidized housing, Enos said.

“When he got out of the ACI,” he said, “nobody picked up on it.”

Trepanier and Russell J. Ducharme were convicted of terrorizing the Blackstone Valley in December 1986 and January 1987, injuring four people during 11 random attacks.

Ducharme was sentenced to 45 years in prison; Trepanier got 40 years.

Ducharme was released on parole in 2005. Channel 10 reported that Trepanier was released in July.