CONCORD — Police Chief Thomas Mulcahy reports that the Concord Police Department has charged a woman in connection with an incident in which she maliciously pulled fire alarms and then left a suspicious suitcase behind at a local business.
APRIL GRUETER, AGE 48, of WEBSTER, was arrested and charged with:
- False Fire Alarm
- Tampering with a Fire Call Box
- Disorderly Conduct
- Possession of a Hoax Device
On Thursday, Aug. 28, at approximately 7:12 p.m., the Concord Fire Department was called to the Dunkin’ at 1641 Sudbury Road for a report of a fire alarm activation.
Companies arrived to discover that two pull stations within the store were pulled maliciously by a woman who then left the store. That same woman then went next door to the Nine Acre Farm Convenience Store, where she made threatening statements. The woman then left a suitcase inside the store and fled in a vehicle.
The convenience store and Dunkin’ were both closed, and all businesses within 300 feet were evacuated as a precaution while a State Police Bomb Squad responded to the scene to evaluate the suitcase.
While Concord Police and Fire secured the stores with assistance from mutual aid partners, they also began searching for the suspect who left the suitcase behind, and located her crashed vehicle on South Great Road in Lincoln a short time later.
The woman fled from the vehicle, and a search of the area, assisted by Lincoln Police and Massachusetts State Police, resulted in her being located in a nearby wooded area.
The woman was identified as GRUETER after she was taken into custody.
The State Police Bomb Squad determined the suitcase did not contain any explosives or incendiary devices.
The Acton and Bedford Fire Departments covered Concord stations while the incident was ongoing. Police from Sudbury, Maynard, Acton, and Lincoln provided assistance at the scene, as did Massachusetts State Police.
GRUETER was held overnight on $5,000 cash bail, and will be arraigned today in Concord District Court.
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