MANCHESTER, NH – Police made a quick arrest of three men who allegedly broke into an apartment early Monday morning and pointed a gun at one of the residents of the apartment before fleeing.
According to a police narrative of the incident, two masked men allegedly banged on the door of a Massabesic Street apartment at 4:15 a.m. on Nov. 19 as a third burglar attempted to gain entry to the apartment through a rear window. A resident, age 33, told police that two masked men pointed a gun at him as he opened the door, so he punched one of them before running out of the apartment.
The victim was inside of the apartment with his girlfriend and another adult male when the incident occurred. Two of the three intruders were known to the victims, but it is unknown what prompted the botched burglary.
The three intruders briefly chased the victim out of the apartment before fleeing in a 2008 Volkswagen, which was stopped moments later on Hayward Street by police near Ainsworth Avenue.
Officers stopped the vehicle, operated by Benjamin Shea, 27, of Milan, and two passengers, Christopher Pantelis, 34, of Londonderry, and Ryan Pantelis, 38, of Manchester.
The officers cleared the vehicle and noted several guns, bandannas and a back pack in plain view, so they towed the vehicle to police headquarters pending a search warrant to retrieve the items.
Shea allegedly swallowed an unknown amount of heroin during the stop and was subsequently charged with convicted felon in possession of a dangerous weapon (brass knuckles), habitual offender, burglary and falsifying physical evidence.
Christian Pantelis was charged with burglary and possession of prescription drugs after officers located a single Alprazolam during a search incident to arrest.
Ryan Pantelis was charged with burglary and violation of bail conditions.
All three men were placed into custody and transported to police headquarters. Shea was transported to the Elliot Hospital due to the fact he ingested an unknown amount of heroin and later released.
They all appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court-North on November 19, 2018.