WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The manhunt for a New Britain father accused of sparking an Amber Alert early Saturday morning has ended.
Patrick Miles, 36, was arrested Wednesday just after midnight in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Miles was held overnight in West Springfield as a fugitive from justice from Connecticut. He was arrested at a residence on Memorial Avenue.
The person who lived in that apartment spoke exclusively to FOX 61's Jeevan Vittal saying he had no idea his house guest was a fugitive in a murder investigation. The neighbor was visibly shaken and didn't want to be identified.
He described a tense ordeal in which multiple SWAT team members and Massachusetts State Police troopers raided his home with snipers trained on the suspect. Police ransacked his home looking for potential evidence.
The neighbor claims he knew the suspect as a 'friend of a friend' who stopped by recently asking if he could stay for a few days. During the raid police had a print out of the suspect's face and apprehended him while he was asleep in a guestroom.
Miles appeared in a Massachusetts court Wednesday on a fugitive from justice charge and is currently being held without the right to bail. He has signed a waiver of extradition and will be returned to the state of Connecticut, according to the Office of the Hampden District Attorney.
"The person who is said to reside at that apartment, based on our interviews, did not know he was wanted in Connecticut," said New Britain police Capt. Thomas Steck.
"He is wanted on two warrants here in Connecticut, both of them out of the Tolland GA on violation of probation with a combined bond of $350,000, " said Steck.
Miles is also a "person of interest and potential suspect" in the homicide of a woman at the apartment where the girl was taken Saturday. He has a criminal record, police said.
"I am pleased to see that Miles is in custody. This was a very expensive and coordinated effort to find him and I am very proud of the work the New Britain Police Department did in collaborating across state lines to put him behind bars," said New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart.
Police said that around 10 p.m. on Friday, they got a call about a domestic dispute in an apartment building on North Mountain Road. The caller said they heard two people fighting and the sound of someone being thrown around. Then, the screaming stopped abruptly and there was silence, the caller told police.
About eight minutes later, police arrived at the apartment and found a woman, Yasheeka Miles, 33, had been shot in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Based on items inside the home, police believed two children were living there. One of them was with family members, but a 2-year-old was missing.
State Police issued the Amber Alert for her just before 1 a.m. Saturday. Around 4 a.m., she was found safe with family members in New York. She was taken to the hospital to be checked out, but was unharmed and turned over to family.
Court officials say Miles will be turned over to Connecticut authorities in the next few days.