Great Barrington — A Great Barrington woman was arrested Wednesday (November 2) after she handed a Berkshire Bank drive-thru teller a deposit slip indicating an armed man was in the car, police say. The incident had police and state troopers from four towns, along with the county’s special response team from Pittsfield, descending into the downtown.
Police cars in front of Berkshire Bank on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Photo: Ed Abrahams
Great Barrington Police Department (GBPD) Chief William Walsh said that, at around 2 to 2:30 p.m. Eloisa Garcia-Gaspar of 66 Main Street was alone in her car when she sent a deposit slip through the tube with the message, “He’s got a gun, please call for help.”
The bank called police with a license plate number that was traced to an apartment above Domaney’s Liquors, where the Berkshire County Special Response Team secured a perimeter around the area for safety in case there was an armed man in the building, Walsh said.
Four or five officers went to the apartment and got Garcia-Gaspar and a baby out, then “cleared it,” and found no one inside, Walsh added. Walsh said Garcia-Gaspar, 27, “wasn’t able to tell them whether there was an armed man in the apartment. She wasn’t forthright. It was a mess.”
An SRT officer at the door of the apartment behind Domaney’s. Photo: Jake Borden
Garcia-Gaspar, who was still being interviewed at the station while Walsh spoke to reporters there, gave police a confusing story, Walsh said, partly because of a “language barrier.” He said she was a native Spanish speaker.
“What she was saying wasn’t matching what the bank said,” Walsh noted. “She was very confused about what she was going to say about her involvement.”
“It was touch and go for a while,” he added.
He further said that “the special response team is always called when there is a potential hostage situation.” He noted that GBPD Sergeant Adam Carlotto is on the team, which was practicing in Pittsfield when the call came in, and the team packed up and traveled south.
GBPD Officer Timothy Ullrich was also at the scene with his K-9 unit, as were police from Sheffield, Egremont, Stockbridge and the state police barracks in Lee.
Police had searched this red sedan parked in front of Domaney’s. Photo: Heather Bellow
While police were roaming the area outside Domaney’s, cruisers idled empty and passersby wondered what was happening. Reporters congregated. One man told The Edge not to go behind Domaney’s. “It’s dangerous,” he said. “The guns are loaded.”
Garcia-Gaspar was charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice, and interfering with a police officer, all for passing a false note, lying in an investigation, and causing a disturbance. She posted bail and is due in Southern Berkshire District Court Thursday (November 3).
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