Search continues for man who held police at bay for hours

MIDDLETOWN – Police continue to search the greater Middletown hour for Jose Rodriguez, a 42-year-old Middletown man who lives at 46 Wawayanda Avenue. When he disappeared, he was said to be armed with a shotgun and pistol.

He kept police at bay for three hours Tuesday afternoon after a woman fled the house when police arrived.

A neighbor told MidHudsonNews.com that the woman ran out of the house clad only in a t-shirt. She was whisked away by police officers, who donned bulletproof vests, took up positions behind bushes and other objects, in hopes of capturing Rodriguez.

Late in the afternoon, police broke down the front door of the house and found it empty.

Police began searching the neighborhood as the dragnet widening when they thought he may have hitched a ride. A police all points bulletin said he may be with another man, who they identified.

It was on July 24 of last year that another man, Raymond Zayas, shot through the front door of his Wawayanda Avenue house following a domestic dispute.

Police Officer Christopher Dolan was shot. He is now back on the job and was on Wawayanda Avenue during Tuesday’s standoff.