Police: Newtown Resident Kidnapped at Gunpoint, Suspect Leads Police on Vehicle Pursuit

A Newtown resident is safe and sound after a scary incident at their home Thursday (4/14/22).

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According to WFSB, authorities say a suspect entered an unnamed Newtown victim's home Thursday, and kidnapped them at gunpoint. Cops say the suspect was wanted on a warrant and fled on foot in the Hawleyville area of Newtown.

After briefly eluding police, the man reportedly entered the victim's home and kidnapped them at gunpoint. The report states the suspect then stole a BMW from the victim, and took off, leading the police on a "pursuit" on I-84.

The victim was able to escape unharmed and officers including State Police found the white sedan crashed in the area of Main Street North in Southbury after exiting the highway at Exit 15.

The suspect is 33 year-old Christopher Lemke according to reports who was arrested and faces a wide variety of charges including:

• Illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle
• Possession of a stolen firearm
• Criminal possession of a pistol
• Engaging police in pursuit
• Reckless driving
• Reckless endangerment
• Possession of narcotics with intent to sell
• Possession of drug paraphernalia.

Lemke's bond has been set at $1 million. He was originally being pursued by Danbury PD and Western CT Regional SWAT officers.

I'm happy that no one came out with any harm in this situation, that is all thanks to the police officers involved in this case. I'd heard about this yesterday afternoon from my contact at Danbury PD, Sargent Krupinsky.

He texted me, and said, "I have another press release coming soon for you, an incident on I-84." I told him, you guys gotta give me a break, I've been scrambling, trying to keep up with your press releases lately, you're running me into the ground.

Danbury PD has been busy lately with multiple busts over the past few weeks. I told Krupinksy my wife is getting mad at me for not being able to shut off the laptop and be "present" at home. I can't imagine how the police officers' significant others feel. Not only are they just as busy, they're also the ones in danger when something like this happens.

P.S. I also managed to leak part of this story to Facebook yesterday, unintentionally. I thought I was posting to a private Townsquare Media Facebook group, to let my co-workers know this story was coming and that I was claiming it. It turned out to be very public, not at-all private so, some of you knew this story was on its way. I was able to correct my mistake before too many people saw it. The folks who did see it, thanked me for my transparency.