Man steals cell phone, assaults officer, invades 2 homes, finally Tasered and arrested

Photos by Jeffrey Hastings/Frame of Mind Photo.

MANCHESTER, NH – On Feb. 7 police arrested Justin Santagati, 33, of Manchester, who was charged with robbery, burglary, simple assault on a police officer, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and three counts of resisting arrest based on the following police narrative:

Manchester Police responded to 4 Vinton St. at 11:20 a.m. Sunday for a reported robbery outside of the Sprint Store. Santagati allegedly borrowed a cell phone from a waiting customer, whom he was familiar with. Santagati allegedly refused to return the phone to the owner and assaulted him before fleeing the store on foot.

Officer Stone located a man matching the Santagati’s description inside of the South Willow Street McDonald’s approximately five minutes after the robbery call. The man began to run as soon as Officer Stone approached him, so Officer Stone grabbed him by the waist in an attempt to detain him. Santagati continued to violently struggle with the officer.

Santagati’s actions caused the officer to lose control of him as he fled on foot toward Cherry Avenue. Santagati lost his shoes in the process of the struggle and began running barefoot through the neighborhood until he was seen entering a home located at 20 Beech St. Santagati was able to evade capture by exiting the home before officers converged on the scene. He continued to run toward Randall Street.

Officers chased him toward 115 Randall Street where he entered the home through a side door. The female resident was startled by the unwelcomed guest, so she called for her husband who engaged in a struggle with Santagati. Officer Darren Murphy entered the home and assisted the homeowner who was now being assaulted by Santagati. Officer Murphy began shouting verbal commands to Santagati, but he failed to comply. He deployed his department issued Taser which ended the altercation.

Santagati was taken into custody and charged. He appeared in the 9^th Circuit Court-Manchester on Feb. 8, 2016.