Chief Patrick Keefe
32 North Main St.
Andover, MA 01810
For Immediate Release
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net
Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 978-769-5193
Email: jessica@jgpr.net
Andover Police Charge Homeless Man With Home Invasion and Kidnapping, Tie Him to Separate Burglary
ANDOVER — Chief Patrick Keefe reports that the Andover Police Department filed multiple charges against a homeless career criminal and sex offender, who is already being held on unrelated charges.
PETER M. BARDZIK, AGE 53, who has previously resided in Lynn and Everett, is charged with:
- Kidnapping
- Home Invasion
- Breaking and Entering in the Daytime with the Intent to Commit A Felony
- Larceny from a Building (Two Counts)
The charges stem out of two incidents that occurred on July 31, in which BARDZIKallegedly broke into a home and held a juvenile girl against her will while he stole cash from the home.
Andover detectives linked BARDZIKto the home invasion and quickly tied him to another burglary that occurred the same day at another home.
BARDZIK is a level three sex offender.
Andover Police filed for a warrant to press charges against him on Oct. 28.
“This is a deeply disturbing situation in which a dangerous career criminal home broke into a home and held a young girl captive,” Chief Keefe said. “We can only take solace in the fact that the girl was not injured and that this dangerous felon is already out of circulation. We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to ensure that he remains behind bars for as long as possible.”
At noontime on July 31, police responded to a home on North Main Street for a report of a breaking and entering. Upon arrival, an officer met a 16-year-old girl who reported that she encountered a man in her garage who then duct taped her to a chair while taking an undisclosed amount of cash from her purse before fleeing from the home. The suspect was described as a white man wearing tan or gray shorts, a gray or green t-shirt and white, dirty sneakers.
Later that the day, around 11 p.m., police responded to a residence on Harding Street for a report of a breaking and entering. The resident informed the responding officer that upon returning home approximately one hour earlier he noticed items from his house were missing and that it appeared as though someone had entered his residence through a window.
The resident also found muddy sneakers, gray or tan shorts and a green t-shirt in his apartment that did not belong to him. The clothing matched the description provided by the female victim of the suspect from the earlier home invasion, which is approximately a half-mile from Harding Street.
Police were able to obtain fingerprints from the Harding Street residence, which were processed by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab in Danvers. DNA evidence was also recovered from the clothing left behind at the Harding Street home.
During the investigation, which included video surveillance from the area of the crimes, and assistance from the media and public in identifying the person in the footage, police were able to determine the suspect to be BARDZIK. They also learned that stolen items from the Harding Street home could be found at the suspect’s mother’s residence in Chicopee. With the assistance from the Chicopee Police Department, Andover Police executed a search warrant of the residence and recovered several stolen items, which were positively identified by the Harding Street resident as the ones taken during the break-in.
With substantial evidence against BARDZIK, police filed for a warrant for his arrest. BARDZIKwill be arraigned at Lawrence District Court in the coming days.
Chief Keefe would like to praise the work of Detective Peter Reming, Detective Kevin Aufiero, and Officer Robin Cataldo for their diligent and hard work over the last several months on this case. The Chief is also grateful to the Chicopee Police Department, the Massachusetts Department of Correction and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section for their assistance in the investigation.
These are allegations. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty.
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