Castle Acres residents help Swansea police arrest armed suspect
Swansea police thanked residents of the Castle Acres neighborhood Tuesday after several helped them find an armed suspect on the loose the day before.
According to Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson, officers from the department and the U.S. Marshals Service arrived in the neighborhood Monday to take 37-year-old Tory A. Matthews into custody for a parole violation.
Matthews was on supervised release as a sex offender and sexual predator and committed another felony crime while serving his parole, Johnson said. The latest crime has not been released.
The team of officers found Matthews on Mary Jo Drive, but he took off running when they spotted him, Johnson said.
“It was obvious the suspect was running with a knife in his hand,” Johnson said.
Police chased Matthews behind houses, alleys and yards, and along the way, Castle Acres neighbors were pointing the officers in direction where he ran, Johnson said. Finally, several people said that Matthews had run behind a house on Marla Kay Drive, where officers caught him in the backyard trying to jump a fence.
Johnson said Matthews resisted arrest and was subdued by use of a Taser. His knife was also recovered next to him. No officers were injured and neither was Matthews, “other than the Taser doesn’t feel good,” Johnson said.
In a Facebook post, Johnson thanked the U.S. Marshals and the Castle Acres residents who helped the department arrest Matthews.
“The citizens of Castle Acres were awesome,” he wrote in the post. “This is what happens when you care about your community and the good people who live in it. Several commented, ‘This stuff just doesn’t happen here.’ It doesn’t because citizens help us do our job. The U.S. Marshals are awesome and Castle Acres citizens are awesome! Thank you for the teamwork in keeping everyone safe.”
Matthews remained in St. Clair County Jail Tuesday afternoon with no bond.
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