NEW LONDON, Conn. — A man suspected of assault was arrested Thursday after entering the Thames River to escape New London police, according to the city’s police department.
Richard Kaczmarczyk, 59, of New London, is facing charges of interfering with police, assault in the third degree, failure to appear in the first degree on two counts, failure to appear in the second degree on four counts, violation of probation, violation of a protective order and harassment in the second degree.
He was also wanted on eight active arrest warrants, police said.
Police said that they responded to Riverside Park after receiving a 911 call at 1:11 p.m. from a woman who said she was assaulted by a man, later identified as Kaczmarczyk.
After spotting officers who arrived on scene, including police K9 Zeke, Kaczmarczyk took off on foot towards train tracks, according to police. Officers then contacted Amtrak and had them temporarily stop train operations.
Kaczmarczyk then went into the Thames River to escape the officers, swimming towards a nearby construction barge, police said.
New London police said they were joined by multiple police marine units from Waterford, Groton Town, Groton City and the United States Coast Guard to surround Kaczmarczyk, who refused to leave the water and was “holding onto a mooring line for over an hour.”
Kaczmarczyk eventually surrendered and was taken into custody before being brought to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, police said. The woman was also taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked by police to call them at 860-447-5269, ext. 0, or contact them anonymously with the New London Tips 411 system.
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Sean Humphrey is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at shumphrey@fox61.com
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