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Knife-Wielding Home Invader Gives East Longmeadow Homeowner Choice: Your Money or Your Life

A Hampden County homeowner heard a loud noise from their bathroom around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 28. But when they went to check it out, they were confronted with a grim reality: A masked man dressed in all black and holding an eight-inch knife stepped out of the shadows. He put the blade to the homeowner's chest and said, "I won’t kill you if you give me all of your money."

Joseph Sherman

Joseph Sherman

Photo Credit: East Longmeadow Police

That's the story a terrified but unharmed East Longmeadow homeowner relayed to police only minutes after the man away when they gave him some cash, authorities said. 

Officers found a ladder beneath the Pioneer Circle home's first-floor bathroom. Police dogs were called in, but they lost his scent not far from the house. 

East Longmeadow detectives, working with several other police agencies, began their investigation and honed in on a suspect. 

Joseph Sherman was a 30-year-old East Longmeadow man living in a tent behind a house on Pioneer Circle, authorities said. But when detectives went to speak with him, Sherman had bolted and was on the run from the police, authorities said. 

Investigators tracked Sherman down to a hotel in Chicopee and arrested him on Wednesday night, officials said. 

Sherman is charged with: 

  • Home invasion
  • Armed robbery while masked
  • Threat to commit a crime
  • Possession of a Class B substance

A judge ordered Sherman held without bail pending a Friday dangerousness hearing, authorities said.  

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