There’s no such thing as a typical day for police, but Saturday was more bizarre than most. Officers were stationed inside of 160 Pleasant Street for most of the day, following up on the reported kidnapping of a young man. That quickly turned into an intense manhunt once one of the alleged assailants returned to the building, touching off a regional response that included police dogs and a SWAT unit from the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council.

Late morning: The Phone Call

According to Lt. Marc Gatcomb, Malden police received a call from a Providence man who claimed he was accosted, beaten and abducted by a group of men in Rhode Island. The victim said his kidnappers took him to 160 Pleasant Street, Malden, a 10-story residential building near Government Center Plaza and. While there, the kidnappers dropped their guard and the victim was able to escape and call for help.

“This kid got roughed up,” said Gatcomb. “They beat him up pretty good, then restrained him and took him into the building.”

Malden police initially entered the building round 10 a.m.. The Building’s management team also came out to help police, offering video and other support, said Gatcomb. At that time, the victim’s abductors were already gone, and there was no danger to the residents inside.

“We realized the persons who did this had taken off to parts unknown,” said Gatcomb.

Early Evening: Return to the Scene

The situation became far more serious in the early evening. Police entered the building to execute a search warrant and plan further action. At that time, they received reliable information that one of the assailants had returned and was inside the building.

“Who would have thought that when we went back to have our meeting and execute a search warrant, he had come back to the building?” asked Gatcomb. “We started searching the building as best we could and fanned out.”

With the suspect back in the building, officers immediately called for K-9 units and began the hunt inside the hallways and apartments inside the building. Officers sealed the exits to the building and asked residents to remain in their apartments.

“That’s when the building went into shutdown mode,” said Gatcomb.

The SWAT team was called in to secure a perimeter while the search continued inside the building, said Gatcomb.  Officers went apartment to apartment, sometimes with police dogs, trying to find the suspect.

Late Night: An Arrest on the Roof

By 11 p.m., officers had swept the building and headed to the roof, where they found the suspect. He was arrested and taken to a local hospital to treat minor injuries.

At this time, it’s not clear what role the arrested man may have had in the scheme to abduct the Providence man, said Gatcomb. The FBI is now the lead organization in the investigation, and the suspect will be arraigned in federal court, said Gatcomb.

Gatcomb said police are withholding the name of the suspect as the investigation continues. Police also declined to name the victim of the abduction plan or speculate on the motives behind kidnapping him.

Police Ask Residents To Register With Reverse 911 System

Gatcomb said police attempted to notify residents in the building using Code Red,  the city’s reverse 911 system. Unfortunately, most residents in the building don’t have landlines, and most had not registered their cell phone numbers for the emergency alerts.

”We tried to send a reverse 911 call. Unfortunately, almost all the people in the building only have cell phones,” said Gatcomb. “We had three phone numbers signed up for Code Red.”

Gatcomb urged residents to sign up for the Code Red alerts by logging onto the Malden Police website.