DA: Police officer declines man's request to shoot him after the guy points gun at the officer

Celestino Vicente of Dorchester led police on a foot chase in Charlestown Monday evening before he pulled out a loaded gun, pointed it at the nearest officer and yelled "Shoot me!" a prosecutor said at his arraignment this morning.

Instead, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports:

The officer took cover behind a brick wall and observed Vicente toss his firearm into a playground as he ran.

Additional responding officers took Vicente into custody without further incident on Walford Way.

A Charlestown judge ordered Vicente, 37, held without bail until at least Friday, when prosecutors will ask that he be held without bail for up to four months as a danger to society. He was formally charged with assault and battery on a police officer and assault and battery with a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, unlawful possession of a firearm as a subsequent offense, unlawful possession of ammunition as a subsequent offense, carrying a loaded firearm and improper storage of a firearm. He had previously been convicted on gun charges in 2009, the DA's office reports.

According to the DA's office, officers patrolling Polk Street because of recent armed robberies and other gun incidents in and around the Bunker Hill development yesterday evening spotted Vicente sitting in a reclined seat in an idling Acura with no nspection sticker. They went up to him to give him a ticket for not having an inspection sticker on the car:

Though his demeanor was calm during the initial interaction, Vicente became extremely nervous when officers - aware of his prior gun conviction - began to discuss recent armed robberies in the area, prosecutors said. Officers observed his chest begin to rise quickly, he was seen sitting up and then back down several times, and he twice reached to touch his waist and adjust his pants an action officers recognized as a characteristic of an armed individual checking on a weapon.

Based on Vicente’s behavior, officers opened the vehicle’s driver side door and ordered Vicente to exit. Vicente repeatedly refused to do so, prosecutors said. At that time, the registered owner of the vehicle approached and told Vicente to exit.

Rather than exit, however, Vicente allegedly tried to close the car’s door and place the vehicle in drive. Officers attempted to remove Vicente from the vehicle, and a violent struggle ensued during which Vicente made movements to reach for the waist of his pants.

Vicente was able to escape from officers and fled over a fence into a courtyard; as he did so, he reached into his waist area and retrieved what appeared to be a firearm.

Not long after, he pointed the gun at the officer, who demanded he drop it, which he eventually did, after yelling "Shoot me!" tossing the gun and running away - only to have other officers grab him

Innocent, etc.