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Standoff victim's brother praises police
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
BY CHARLES W. KIM
Register Citizen Staff
Copyright © 2006 The Register Citizen
WINSTED - The day after a tense 15-hour standoff between a town man and police brought both praise and criticism by those involved.
"Residents are pretty safe in the hands of these professionals," Arthur Subklew, brother of former hostage Joylene Subklew said Monday night. "I watched these guys work a miracle."
Joylene Subklew, 28, was held hostage in her 91 Torringford St. apartment for more than seven hours by ex-boyfriend George Pelletier, 47, before being allowed to walk out the door to waiting police officers.
"She was terrified (walking out)," Arthur Subklew said. "It was very clear (Pelletier) allowed her to go."
The incident started around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when Pelletier arrived at the apartment building brandishing a shotgun and shooting his way into Subklew's apartment. Once inside, Pelletier shot her boyfriend Robert Emerson Jr., 35, of New Hartford in the leg and side with buckshot rounds.
Bleeding, Emerson escaped the apartment with the assistance of building supervisor and tenant Peter Bailey. Police and an ambulance arrived on the scene shortly after that and transported Emerson to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Emerson refused comment through a female family member Monday night.
Arthur Subklew was on the scene at his sister's apartment building before police cordoned off the area and secured a perimeter around the building.
"I was there, in full view," Arthur Subklew said. "I was amazed by the extreme care, professionalism and compassion for others the police demonstrated."
Subklew spent the next seven hours watching Winchester Police Chief Nicholas Guerriero and Sgt. Kevinnahan carefully negotiate his sister's release on a cell phone with Pelletier.
"They handled it so well," Arthur Subklew said. "They calmed him down and took the murder out of a murder-suicide."
By around 10 a.m., Pelletier released Joylene Subklew to police.
"They were successful in getting her out," Arthur Subklew said. "(Pelletier) released her as a result of the negotiations."
The crisis moved slowly through the afternoon, with a local tactical team and negotiator being replaced by a state team.
At 6:10 p.m. the team fired multiple rounds of tear gas into the apartment and tried to lure Pelletier out with a public address system. About 20 minutes later, police heard a single gunshot and entered the building finding Pelletier dead, ending the standoff.
"(Joylene) was devastated by the news," Arthur Subklew said. "That it ended the way it did."
Local and State Police spent several hours processing the site, State Police Spokesman Trooper William Tate said at the scene.
Arthur took Joylene Subklew to Winsted Medical Center for emergency crisis treatment Sunday night and started her in a formal program at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Monday, Arthur Subklew said.
While he has been in contact with the Emerson family, Arthur Subklew said his sister and Emerson have not spoken since he was shot.
"She is resting now," Arthur Subklew said. "She has not talked to me about the incident."
While the brother of the surviving hostage said he was amazed by the actions of police on the scene, the resident of apartment 11, above Joylene Subklew's, returned Monday to find a mess inside.
"It stinks of tear gas, my eyes are burning," Matthew Melantacci, 31, said Monday. "We are going to have to find a place to stay."
Malentacci said it appeared members of the tactical team in the building went into his apartment and took drinks out of the refrigerator, leaving a mess in his living room.
"All the cups were out of the cupboard," Malentacci said. "They left my back door wide open."
In addition to the mess, the remnants of the tear gas strike are throughout the apartment in the family's clothes and on the walls and windows.
"They (police) had no reason to be in my house," Malentacci said. "They treated us like we were criminals."
Malentacci said he was very upset with Guerriero and will likely file a formal complaint with Town Manager Owen Quinn regarding Sunday's incident.
Among his complaints, Malentacci said he was upset Sunday that police could not give displaced tenants any information on how the situation was going, or how they could get the supplies they needed.
"The chief should've come and talked with us," Malentacci said.
Police opened a local firehouse for the tenants just after 3 p.m., but several had already contacted friends to stay with.
Others waited in the 90-degree heat on a neighbor's lawn.
Several neighbors offered food, drink, and the use of restrooms for the grateful tenants. Malentacci's girlfriend, Sarah Young, said the community helped them more than the police did.
If all goes well, Malentacci, Young, and the couple's two children could be back in their apartment in a few days, landlord Joe Giraldi of Naugatuck said Monday.
"I'm checking with my insurance to see if we are covered," said Giraldi, who officially bought the building June 1. "We will see if there is money to put (Malentacci) up."
Giraldi contacted a local Servicemaster business about cleaning up the tear gas and Traumaway in Southington about cleaning Apt. 7 where Pelletier took his own life.
"They clean biohazard material (like blood)," Giraldi said. "Everyone else is back (in their apartmetns)."
Giraldi estimated two months before Subklew could move back into Apt. 7. He also said he thought police did a good job Sunday.
"They are there to do a job," Giraldi said. "They did a good job with everything."
Charles W. Kim can be reached by e-mail at torrington@registercitizen.com.
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