GREENFIELD — The suspect accused of a home invasion and barricading himself in a home on Elm Street for six hours last Friday was held without bail Thursday morning after video and audio recordings of the alleged standoff were shown to Judge William Mazanec III.

William Judd, 57, of Greenfield, is accused of breaking into Chester Bai’s home at 221 Elm St., armed with a gun, early Friday morning, where he remained until Franklin County Regional Special Response Team officers removed him from an attic crawlspace. He faces charges of home invasion, assault with a firearm, drug larceny, larceny and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Judd’s attorney John Godleski and Assistant District Attorney Ryan Scott presented audio and video evidence from the incident at Judd’s dangerousness hearing in Greenfield District Court Thursday morning, focusing their evidence to prove or disprove Judd’s possession of a gun during the standoff.

The prosecution’s argument

Urging Mazanec to consider Judd “dangerous” and deny his release from incarceration, Scott argued that the defendant, armed with a gun, had previously known Bai, who uses a wheelchair, and targeted him due to his vulnerability. Noting that Judd allegedly broke into Bai’s home while he was sleeping, assaulted him, and stole collectible currency and prescription drugs, Ryan argued that Judd is a danger to the community.

Scott presented footage recorded using Greenfield Police Officer Melvin Moreno’s body camera that shows a shadowy figure, dressed in black, appear in the basement window of the Elm Street home while Moreno, with his service weapon drawn, repeatedly yelled “Gun!,” adding, “He flashed a gun.” He also referenced initial conversations between Bai and police, in which the victim told officers that he saw a black object “that he believed to be a gun” in Judd’s hands when he awoke to the suspect crawling on his bedroom floor.

“You saw the clip when Officer Moreno observed what he described to be a black, Glock-style firearm in the basement window. Now, the commonwealth could argue that the home invasion charges — being armed preying upon a vulnerable individual for the purpose of stealing money and medication — supports the finding of dangerousness,” Scott said. “An individual entering into somebody’s home in the middle of the night is dangerous in itself.”

Outlining Judd’s criminal history, Scott listed the defendant’s drug and weapons-related arrest history, which includes drug trafficking charges in which Judd allegedly took part in a drug smuggling operation from China to the U.S., as well as convictions for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in 2007 and 2012.

Scott also displayed body camera footage of Regional Special Response Team officers deploying CS gas, a common form of tear gas, into the attic crawlspace where Judd was hiding, in an unsuccessful effort to capture him. Scott argued that Judd’s unwillingness to comply with law enforcement demands or surrender over the course of six hours showed that he is a danger to the public.

Recounting that both Bai and Moreno described Judd holding what they believed to be a gun, Scott noted the weapon has still not been found.

“In what was described as an extensive standoff, the suspect in the house refused to surrender. He remained for hours,” Scott said. “As officers were on scene, they continued to issue commands describing to Mr. Judd that they had the house surrounded. … Mr. Judd targeted Mr. Bai and, knowing that he was physically disabled, attempted to steal from him. As of today, no gun has been found at the scene.”

The defense’s argument

Godleski, who maintained that his client had been “overcharged,” argued that there is little to no evidence supporting the claim that his client was armed or assaulted Bai. He played an audio recording of Bai’s original call to Greenfield Police, in which he swore repeatedly and, when asked if Judd had a weapon, responded that he (Bai) was armed with a gun.

“The 911 caller did not originally report that Mr. Judd was armed with a firearm. In fact, he reported the opposite. Did not report that Mr. Judd physically assaulted him. In fact, he reported the opposite. There is additional evidence that Mr. Judd was not armed,” Godleski said. “It’s not that police haven’t yet found the firearm; there was never a firearm to begin with.”

Godleski also mentioned that in police report narratives, Moreno was the only officer who claimed to have seen a firearm in Judd’s possession, with Officer Victor Placinta reportedly seeing Judd dressed in black, wearing gloves trying to escape. He entered still photographs from Moreno’s body camera footage into evidence, arguing that a figure dressed in black could be seen in the window from a distance, but not a firearm.

Referencing police accounts of the incident, Godleski also displayed footage of Bai being interviewed by police in which Bai recounted “hitting [Judd] on the back of his neck,” but did not mention being assaulted. When police asked Bai if he saw a firearm, Bai noted that it was very dark and that he “didn’t know,” but that he saw the suspect holding something that might have been a gun.

Godleski also rebutted the state’s claim that Judd’s refusal to leave the house showed unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement. He noted that for hours, police threatened to shoot Judd if he did not surrender, and argued that his client was scared he would have been shot if he stepped outside.

“There wasn’t a gun, he did not assault, or physically attempt to assault, the victim and there were no injuries,” Godleski said, refuting his client’s charges of assault with a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon and home invasion. “This shows a burglary, not a home invasion — there’s a difference and he’s not dangerous.”

Judd will be held at least until his pretrial conference planned for Monday, June 16, in Greenfield District Court. Godleski, in a brief interview, said he believes release of home camera footage from Bai’s bedroom will be a determining factor in the case.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.