By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A 90-minute police standoff on Winter Street came to an end Friday morning when officers used a pepper-ball gun to subdue a suspect described by police as “in a rage.”

Police said 27-year-old Brian Cabral was out of control inside an apartment at 74 Winter St. when they were called about 9 a.m. When officers arrived, Cabral was barricaded inside the home and refused to come out, police said.

Cabral had smashed out windows in the apartment, hurled things around and was stomping through the building with a knife, police said.

For roughly an hour, police Officer Bud Caouette and Lt. James Robicheau talked to Cabral and tried to persuade him to come out of the building, police said. The attempt was unsuccessful.

Police believed that Cabral had cut himself with the knife during his rampage. They also suspected he was suffering from an emotional crisis and was still armed.

More than an hour after the standoff began, officers burst into the apartment while Cabral was in the bathroom. When he confronted police moments later, officers were waiting nearby.

“In order to subdue him, they used the nonlethal pepper-ball gun,” said Auburn police Lt. Michael Lemay.

Cabral was struck in the chest by several of the pepper balls. Upon impact, the balls exploded and released chemical spray into Cabral’s eyes. Police said the impact and the spray immediately disabled Cabral.

Beyond bruises from the pepper balls, Cabral did not suffer injury when he was captured. He was taken to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, where he was being evaluated later Friday. A nursing supervisor at the hospital declined to provide information about Cabral’s condition or to say whether he was still a patient at St. Mary’s.

Cabral was charged with creating a police standoff, a civil offense that carries a $500 fine or the cost of the police effort leading up to his arrest. Police on Friday night were still investigating what led to the confrontation.

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