SOMERSET — A 35-year-old man with a violent criminal history has been arrested in connection with a home invasion that left an elderly woman knocked to the floor before she fled to safety.
Jesse Brule was taken into custody Saturday evening in Middletown, Rhode Island, following a three-day search by Somerset police detectives.
The incident occurred at approximately 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 311 Highview Avenue when Brule allegedly knocked on the victim’s door asking for a specific person.
When the woman told him no one by that name lived there, Brule forced his way into the home, knocking the victim to the floor, police said.
The victim was able to escape and run to a neighbor’s home for help.
The neighbor immediately called 911.
Brule was observed running from the home toward a red Hyundai Santa Fe parked nearby.
A neighbor recorded the vehicle’s registration plate, which proved instrumental in identifying the suspect.
The victim later reported that several items had been stolen from her home.
Patrol Officer David Labreche initiated the investigation with assistance from Detective Lieutenant Jason Matos and Detective Sergeant Nicholas Davidson.
Based on information developed that evening, Officer Labreche obtained an arrest warrant for Brule.
Brule had previously been convicted in 2018 for shooting another person twice in Fall River and had been sentenced to 10–15 years in prison.
At approximately 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Detective Lieutenant Matos located Brule’s unoccupied vehicle in a Burger King parking lot in Middletown, Rhode Island.
Detective Matos observed Brule walking through the parking lot toward the vehicle and positively identified him.
Brule then left the lot and parked behind a Planet Fitness in Middletown.
Detective Lieutenant Matos coordinated with Middletown police, who placed Brule under arrest as a fugitive from justice based on Somerset’s outstanding felony warrants.
Detective Sergeant Nicholas Davidson and Detective Donald Cormier later interviewed Brule at the Middletown Police Department.
Brule was transported to the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston, Rhode Island, where he will be arraigned Tuesday.
Massachusetts will request Brule’s extradition so he can be arraigned on charges of breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony, larceny from a building, and assault and battery on an elderly person.
