Massachusetts: • Milford Police say homeless man stole purse, attempted to hit officer with car

A man who police say is homeless is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after he allegedly stole a woman’s purse and attempted to hit an officer with his car while fleeing. Daniel Cole, 41, was ordered held without bail at his Milford District Court arraignment Monday. He is due back in court on Thursday after Judge Robert Calagione ordered a dangerousness hearing.

Cole, who police say is originally from Florida, faces 10 charges stemming from the incident, including larceny from a person, assault with a dangerous weapon, failure to stop for police, failure to stop or yield, possessing an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, failure to slow, a marked lanes violation, speeding, reckless operation of a vehicle and taking an improper turn, police said.

On Friday around 7:15 p.m., police received a call from a woman who witnessed a man steal another woman’s purse as she was loading groceries into her car in the Hannaford parking lot on Medway Road. Police say they later learned that the victim was with two handicapped women for whom she cares and was loading groceries into her vehicle. Cole, parked nearby, leaped from his car, ran to the woman’s car and grabbed the purse from a seat.

The witness said the man, later identified as Cole, fled the parking lot to East Main Street toward the downtown area. Police later found Cole’s vehicle stuck in traffic on East Main Street by Beach Street. Officer Russell Poissant attempted to block Cole’s vehicle from traveling forward, exited his vehicle and approached Cole’s vehicle from behind.

“During this approach, I saw the male suspect look in my direction, place his vehicle in reverse, and accelerate towards me,” Poissant wrote in his report on file in court. Poissant said he had to leap to avoid being hit by the car before Cole fled down the thickly-settled Beach Street in excess of 50 miles per hour.

Cole’s erratic and aggressive driving caused other motorists to make “evasive and sudden maneuvers” to avoid being struck by Cole’s vehicle. After a short chase, Cole came to a sudden stop in the middle of the roadway on East Street, exited his vehicle and surrendered. In the car, officers found the purse and a bottle of Rubinoff Vodka – nearly empty – on the front seat.

Cole who had “the appearance of being in medical distress,” was taken to the Milford Regional Medical Center where he later told police that he didn’t recall what had just happened, purportedly due to a days or weeks of alcohol and opioid use.  The police logs stemming from the incident indicate that Cole was overdosing when he stopped on East Street and an ambulance was called.