Portsmouth Man Arrested On Weapon Charge After Police Standoff

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A Portsmouth man was arrested on a felony charge Monday and held without bail after a more than four-hour standoff with police on Islington Street. Around 8:15 a.m., dispatch received a report about a man threatening a group of people inside an apartment on Islington Street. The man, later identified as Nathan Strawbridge, 46, was accused of threatening people verbally while displaying a firearm, according to Capt. Mike Maloney of the Portsmouth Police Department.

"There was initial phone contact with the suspect inside of the residence who refused to exit the apartment," Maloney said. "Subsequent investigation led to probable cause that the suspect inside the residence had committed the offense of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, a felony. Combined with the fact that a firearm was involved and the subject was refusing to exit the residence, the Seacoast Emergency Response Team was activated to assist Portsmouth police."

Crisis negotiators with the response team eventually were able to reach Strawbridge by phone around 12:30 p.m. A short time later, he exited the apartment and was arrested.

"There were no injuries to any party," Maloney, the commander of the response team, said. "A subsequent search warrant was conducted and a firearm was recovered from inside the apartment."

Strawbridge was held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 21 in Rockingham County Superior Court.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Portsmouth Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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