Judge: Suspect poses risk, held without bail
ADA: ‘No doubt’ man was reaching for gun
NEWBURYPORT — Assistant Essex District Attorney Thomas Sholds was clear about the risk posed by Elias J. Sudler.
“There’s no doubt in the commonwealth’s mind that when the defendant was reaching into that back seat — reaching into that backpack — that he was reaching for that firearm, and he was not going to go easily with the state police,” Sholds told Haverhill District Court Judge Patricia A. Dowling at Sudler’s dangerousness hearing yesterday.
Sudler, a passenger in a Chevrolet pickup Wednesday when state trooper Chanel Moreau pulled the vehicle over for an out-of-date inspection sticker, allegedly grappled with the statie, who tased him before the vehicle sped away.
Sudler tumbled unseen from the truck before the vehicle and its driver, Ishaq Abdul-Shafi, 35, of Quincy, surrendered in a CVS parking lot on Route 97. The discovery that Sudler had disappeared set off a five-hour manhunt in Haverhill before the suspect was captured.
Sudler, 27, has multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest from Boston to New Bedford, accusing him of stalking, kidnapping, restraining order violations, assault and battery, and more, court records state.
His 19-page criminal resume includes a failed escape attempt from a prisoner transport van in January, Sholds said, noting, “This is someone that simply cannot be released on conditions.”
Defense attorney Joseph Gannon said the slight-figured Sudler, 27, of Boston, a divorced father of two, was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and spent time in foster care, appeared before Dowling with his forehead and left forearm bandaged. Court documents state he was bitten while being subdued by K-9 Tank and the dog’s handler, trooper Thomas Janeczak.
Dowling ordered Sudler held without bail pending trial. “There’s just too much going on here, and the facts are too egregious,” she said.
Sudler pleaded not guilty to eight new charges, including unlawful weapon possession, assault and battery on a police officer, giving police a phony alias and resisting arrest. Sholds said Sudler faces a 15-year minimum mandatory sentence.
At the initial traffic stop, AbdulShafi told Moreau he and Sudler were going to his uncle’s house to repair a roof. Moreau asked trooper Gary Comeau to respond as backup after seeing the passenger, later identified as Sudler, reaching behind the truck’s driver’s seat “multiple times,” according to court documents. Moreau reported being repeatedly kicked in the legs by Sudler as they fought for possession of a backpack later found to conceal a loaded firearm. Comeau deployed his Taser on Sudler. “However, the vehicle quickly fled the scene,” Moreau reported.
It was not until Abdul-Shafi surrendered that Moreau realized “the passenger was no longer in the vehicle.”
Dowling ordered Abdul-Shafi held on $3,500 cash bail. The university chef, whose wife is pregnant, pleaded not guilty to nearly a half-dozen charges, including negligent operation and failure to stop for police.