WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Pittsfield man reportedly tossed into the air by a moving vehicle on Thursday afternoon fled the scene to hide out in a nearby basement, stopping first to provision himself with the homeowner's iPod, cell phone and beer, said police.
Mahadi S. Thompson, 28, of Peck's Road was charged with single counts each of breaking and entering in the daytime and larceny from a building. He was released on personal recognizance.
Thompson "was less than cooperative with police regarding the motor vehicle incident," according to police; the vehicle and driver involved have not been identified.
A motorist westbound on Green River Road saw a man believed to be Thompson struck or thrown from a vehicle at about 2 p.m. near the Hopper Road intersection. She called 911 to report seeing a man "fly through the air" and apparently knocked out of his shoes, which were lying in the middle of the road.
The victim, described as black and wearing a sweat shirt, ran up to her car and asked for a ride to the hospital. When the motorist told him she was calling 911, the victim ran up the road and then through a yard and disappeared behind some nearby homes, said police.
Police responding to the scene were told by several homeowners they'd seen a man matching the victim's description run through their yards. After a brief search failed to turn up the victim, the town's K-9 Unit (Blue the bloodhound and Officer Michael Ziemba) were called in.
Blue used the scent from the shoes to track the victim from behind the homes and back out to the road, where a man's tracks could be seen in the mud. A resident of a home close by said a family member had just returned home to discover a cottage on the property locked up. The cottage had been left unlocked when the family member had left a few hours before.
Police said Thompson was found in a basement closet, along with iPod and cell phone taken from the family's personal effects as well as a beer from the refrigerator.
He was treated by Village Ambulance personnel and taken to North Adams Regional Hospital for injuries sustained in the accident.
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