Reading Police Continue Search for Attempted Carjacking Suspect

By ADAM SWIFT (Patch Staff)

READING, MA - The Reading Police are asking its residents to keep doors and windows locked as they are still actively searching for a man in the Franklin Street area wanted in an attempted carjacking that took place on Thursday afternoon.

Early Friday morning, police officials stated that there was still an ongoing investigation and that they would keep the public informed as new information became available.

Police officials also stated that the school day would proceed as normal on Friday. On Thursday, a shelter in place order was issued for one elementary school as police searched for the subject near Franklin Street.

At 12:26 p.m. on Thursday, the Reading Police Department received a report of an attempted carjacking in the lot of the Home Goods store at 1342 Main Street. The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival. The suspect is described as a clean shaven white male, in his twenties, approximately six feet tall, wearing a black sweatshirt with an unknown logo and a black baseball cap.

A thorough search of the area was conducted by Reading Police with the assistance of Massachusetts State Police K-9 teams, North Reading Police and the NEMLEC K-9 Unit. The suspect has not been located at this time. The Wood End Elementary School was put in a “Shelter in Place” due to a police investigation in the area. The school has been deemed safe and secure, and additional police were assigned to the area as a precaution. The Reading Police are still actively searching in the Franklin Street area.

Residents are advised to stay vigilante until the suspect is apprehended. Police are asking residents to keep doors and windows locked, and use extra caution. Anyone who sees this suspect, or anything out of the ordinary, should contact the Reading Police at 781-944-1212.