UPDATED: Pittsfield Pursuit Ends With Officer Firing on Vehicle

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
11:00AM / Wednesday January 25, 2017

image description — Law enforcement vehicles at Rotary Park. A Pittsfield man was shot by police after allegedly fleeing a traffic stop. His SUV smashed into the concrete barriers at the park.

UPDATED: Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 6:45 p.m.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The district attorney's office says 55-year-old Mark Marauszwski, of Pittsfield, is in stable condition after being shot by a Pittsfield Police officer Wednesday morning at Rotary Park.

Marauszwski allegedly led police on a chase throughout the city's center Wednesday morning, ending at Rotary Park on Springside Avenue. There he was shot by Officer Martin Streit, according to the district attorney's office.

Marauszwski was transferred to Berkshire Medical Center and is now in stable condition.

Authorities said Office David Hallas had pulled over the sports utility vehicle Marauszwski was driving on Bartlett Avenue around 9:09 a.m. He allegedly struck Hallas with the door of the vehicle and then sped off.

Hallas and other officers, including Streit, chased the vehicle through the center of the city and into the parking lot of Rotary Park.

The district attorney's office says at the park Marauszwski drove at Streit, who was outside of the cruiser. Streit then fired three shots from his service weapon at the vehicle, two of which struck the vehicle and one hitting Marauszwski. The Mercedes that Marauszwski was driving came to a stop as it crashed into a cement post.

Officer administered first aid to Marauszwski and he was transported by ambulance to the hospital. He was treated in the Emergency Department and placed under arrest. He faces charges of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, operating after a suspension, failure to stop for a police officer, and two counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

State police assigned to the district attorney's office are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The pursuit ended at Rotary Park on Springside Avenue.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A routine traffic stop on Bartlett Avenue on Wednesday morning turned into a police pursuit through the center of the city that resulted in an officer firing on the vehicle.

Police Chief Michael Wynn said the incident occurred at about 9:09 a.m. when officers reported that the stop had turned into a pursuit.

"Within 5 minutes, we were informed by the involved officers that they were involved in a scene of shots fired and the suspect was in custody," the chief said at the scene outside Rotary Park on Springside Avenue.

The pursuit ended when the driver of the vehicle tried to cut through the park and struck a cement barrier post.

Both the officer and the individual in the motor vehicle were taken to Berkshire Medical Center according to protocol, he said.

Wynn declined at this point to say if anyone had been injured, citing the active investigation.

"What we believe at this time is one officer fired his weapon at the vehicle that was involved in the pursuit," he said, and that only one person was in the vehicle.

Springside Avenue is currently closed between Glenwood Avenue and Brown Street.

Wynn said state police from the Cheshire barracks are helping to cover the city with patrols as Pittsfield Police Department works the investigation. The city has also requested the aid of the state police detective unit assigned to the district attorney's office.

"There's obviously so many of our people involved," he said. "Our crime scene unit and our traffic unit will be mapping the scene for the state police."

Any further information, Wynn said, will come through the district attorney's office.

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