UPDATED: Man arrested for alleged threats while armed in Yarmouth

Yarmouth Police photo of the replica handgun alongside a real handgun.

Joshua Joaquim

YARMOUTH – Yarmouth Police report that early Wednesday morning, patrol officers were dispatched to the Westerly Winds motel located at 77 Route 28 in West Yarmouth for a report of a domestic disturbance.

Upon arriving, Police Officers located the involved couple just outside of room 12. They were identified and the argument was deemed to be verbal in nature only, with the male being placed in protective custody due to his level of intoxication.

It was soon learned that during the course of the argument between the couple, a white male with dirty blonde hair and a beard came out of the next room, unit 14 and told the man to treat his woman better.

The unidentified man went back into room 14 and then returned with a dark colored handgun in his hand and threatened the man while holding the black handgun.

Upon learning that information, Police Officers tactically attempted to raise the occupant of room 14, however the occupant would not answer the door.

Yarmouth Police Officers secured the room and Yarmouth Police Detective Christopher VanNess became involved in the investigation.

Detective VanNess conducted an investigation which positively identified the man with the gun who had made the threats and was in the room.

The suspect, Joshua Joaquim, is a convicted felon with 49 prior entries—including violent crimes, weapons, and drugs—on his Massachusetts criminal record and is well known to Cape Cod Law Enforcement.

Detective VanNess obtained a warrant for his arrest from a clerk magistrate for Felony Assault while Armed with a Dangerous Weapon.

At approximately 5:30 AM, Yarmouth Police Department Patrol Officers under the direction of Patrol Sergeant George Tsoukalas ordered the suspect out of the room and placed him under arrest.

Joaquim was transported to Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters. A search of his room uncovered a handgun in a dresser drawer. A close examination of the handgun revealed it was a replica pellet handgun designed to look like an actual handgun.

Joaquim was held at Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters and will be transported to the Barnstable District Court this morning for arraignment.

The Yarmouth Police Department Command Staff commends all of the Police Officers and Dispatchers involved in this investigation which resulted in the high risk arrest of a reportedly armed convicted felon with no one being injured.

UPDATE: If the name Joshua Joaquim seems familiar to you-you’re right. Yarmouth Police confirm to Cape Wide News he is the same person who accused YPD of being slow to respond when he called them about discarded needles.

Back on January 12th, YPD issued the follow statement: “As promised, when a very negative allegation was made publicly by Joshua Joaquim and reported on Fox 25 Boston news, that the Yarmouth Police and Fire Departments failed to do their jobs and took four hours to respond to his report of a few capped hypodermic needles set on top of a guardrail post in his neighborhood, we have conducted an investigation that has determined the actual facts.

The facts have revealed that Joshua Joaquim was not truthful in his allegations against the men and women of the Yarmouth Police and Fire Departments.

The official tape recordings reveal:

He called initially at 11:03 AM to report the needles

He then called at 12:07PM and volunteered to pick them up himself and was given advice on how to do so

He then called again at 3:20 PM complaining why no one had arrived to pick them up

He posted many negative comments on social media and reached out to Fox 25 Boston News.

For the past few days, we have reached out to Josh in private asking him to meet with us to discuss what occurred and listen to the tapes and exactly what was said.

Unfortunately, Josh declined and continued to make negative postings. Despite him not being truthful to the media and entire community, we wanted him to have an opportunity to come clean.

At this point, Fox 25 Boston News has produced a follow up report and we would like all citizens, including our over 16,000 YPD Facebook Followers, as well as all of the people who made such negative comments about the Yarmouth Police and Fire Departments to know the actual facts.

At the Yarmouth Police Department, one of our Core Values is integrity. The integrity of the Yarmouth Police Department is reflective of each member of our organization and we are mindful of this responsibility at all times.

We remain confident in OUR integrity and ability to provide professional community policing to all members of our community.

Please call us anytime 24/7 whenever you need any help.”
Media release and photos furnished by Yarmouth Police



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