Man held woman at gunpoint in kidnapping

NEWTOWN — A recently released arrest warrant details the events that unfolded last month, resulting in the arrest of Danbury resident Christopher Lemke on nine felony charges including kidnapping and home invasion.

The 33-year-old was charged last week on a warrant stemming from an April 14 incident, during which police say he fled from one Newtown home, held a woman at gunpoint and told her to get into a car with him before crashing and being apprehended in Southbury.

Danbury police notified Newtown police around 8 a.m. April 14 that a warrant would be served at a Frontage Road residence to locate and arrest Lemke. Danbury police said it was an outstanding warrant regarding the theft of a handgun, for which they believed Lemke was responsible.

“One of the reasons we were looking for him was because there was a warrant for his arrest, so the search warrant was for the weapon and his person,” Detective Lt. Mark Williams from the Danbury Police Department told Hearst Connecticut Media.

Around 10:30 a.m., authorities learned that Lemke had left the residence through a rear exit of the house, went into a wooded area and was heading toward Whitewood Road.

He was reportedly wearing a white baseball hat, red backpack, red striped sneakers and a dark-colored sweatshirt, and police said he abandoned the backpack and hat in the wooded area. Both were later recovered, according to police.

A short time later, Lemke was spotted on Whitewood Road, where authorities say he entered the backyard of a residence, spotted a woman inside and “motioned” for her to open the rear glass patio door of the home.

After the woman unlocked and opened the door, Lemke “placed his foot in the doorway (and) pointed a handgun at (her) chest,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The woman told police Lemke asked where the car keys were kept, but she did not know as she doesn’t live in the area and was only in town visiting friends. Lemke then spotted a set of keys hanging by a door inside the home and, with the gun still pointed at her, led the woman towards them, according to the warrant for his arrest.

He grabbed the keys belonging to a 2016 BMW 320iXdr and opened the door leading to the garage where the vehicle was parked. The woman asked Lemke to let her go, but Lemke “violently grabbed (her) by the shirt,” opened the rear passenger door of the vehicle and shoved her inside, the arrest warrant states.

He then got into the driver seat, opened the garage bay, reversed out of the garage and left the driveway at “a high rate of speed.”

According to the warrant, Lemke told the woman to “help him with directions to leave the area” and she “pleaded with Lemke to let her go because she didn’t know the area.” The woman said Lemke then stopped the vehicle, which was still on Whitewood Road, ordered her to get out and she ran back to the house,” the warrant continued.

Upon making contact with police, the woman told officers what happened, described the stolen vehicle and told them in which direction Lemke was heading.

After information about the BMW was broadcast to area police departments, state troopers spotted the stolen vehicle heading east on Interstate 84.

Following a brief pursuit, state police said Lemke was apprehended after running a red light off Exit 15 and crashing the vehicle into a median while attempting to make a left turn through an intersection around 11:05 a.m.

The BMW also struck the rear of a 67-year-old New Milford woman’s 2021 Chrysler Pacifica that had been heading south on Route 67, according to state police, who said the woman was not injured.

At the crash scene, police said Lemke was “seen holding a handgun in his right hand while sitting in the vehicle, which he dropped prior to being apprehended.”

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, a black and green Glock .380 caliber handgun with a six-round magazine was recovered at the scene. Police said it was loaded with five rounds of ammunition, including one round in the chamber.

Authorities said a white powder substance that tested positive for heroin/ fentanyl, as well as “suspected cocaine” were also recovered at the scene.

State police arrested and charged Lemke with engaging police in a pursuit, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, possession of a stolen firearm, criminal possession of a pistol and second-degree reckless endangerment, as well as possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After interviewing the woman Lemke had taken at gunpoint, as well as neighbors who provided exterior home surveillance video footage showing Lemke making his way through the Whitewood Road area, police went to the Frontage Road and collected evidence.

In addition to the backpack and hat Lemke abandoned in nearby woods, police said they recovered “several other personal items containing drug paraphernalia belonging to Lemke” that were found inside the Frontage Road residence.

Newtown police said a number of items were found inside the backpack, including “miscellaneous packaging commonly used for heroin,” a set of brass knuckles, a pocket knife, two glass smoking pipes, several sedative pills and 250 glassine bags containing “suspected heroin.”

After determining probable cause, Newtown police sought and obtained a warrant for Lemke’s arrest on home invasion, first-degree burglary, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree larceny, first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a dangerous weapon, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and possession with intent to sell narcotics charges.

Lemke is also facing carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm charges after being arrested by Danbury police April 19, on a warrant connected to the April 14 search on Frontage Road in Newtown.

The arrest warrant stemmed from “an earlier incident” involving a handgun stolen from a car, according to Willaims, who said “the gun in that case was not the one recovered in Newtown.”

Danbury police believe Lemke may also have information related to the missing person case of Carlos Reyes. The 20-year-old was last seen March 28, and his car was found engulfed in flames in Brewster, N.Y., the night of March 29. Williams said Lemke was “directly related” to a search warrant executed at a home on Ball Pond Road on April 7.

Lemke is being held at the New Haven Correctional Center on more than $2 million in bonds, according to the state Department of Correction, and has pretrial hearings at state Superior Court in Danbury scheduled for May 16.

Criminal history

Lemke has been arrested five times since September 2021 on charges ranging from larceny, assault and controlled substance possession to evading responsibility, reckless driving and driving under the influence, according to court records.

Court records show Lemke was sentenced nine years ago to jail time, suspended after six months, plus three years probation after being convicted on carrying a pistol without a permit and second-degree threatening charges stemming from a May 2013 incident in Brookfield.