Witnesses: Man accused of crashing into Shrewsbury police department wanted to be shot by police

A driver was arrested after police said he intentionally crashed into the Shrewsbury police station Monday, ending up completely inside the building.

The driver was identified as Robert McCluskey, 58, of Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury police said the black SUV drove forcefully drove through and became wedged inside the building shortly after 2 p.m. The smashed car has since been towed away and new concrete barriers and cones have been placed in front of the building’s entrance.

“So we actually put two pylons out there to prevent people from hitting the building, it went through that, it went through the door — actually two doors — went through the front lobby, and then went through the wall of the dispatch center,” said Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin Anderson. “There were three dispatchers working at the time and, obviously, they’re very shooken up.”

McCluskey was the only person inside the car at the time and was taken to the hospital. No one else was hurt.

Police said as he was removed from the car, he repeatedly said, “I am sorry, I am sorry, help me, I am sorry.”

According to a police report, when officers asked McCluskey if his actions were intentional, he told them they were. Witnesses said McCluskey made statements earlier saying he wanted to be shot by police. McCluskey also allegedly said he told people to watch the news later on and said, “I’m going to end this.”

Neighbors said they’ve never seen anything like this.

“It’s hard to imagine to get that far into the station,” said Bill Jewers, who lives across the street. “The barricades — it’s pretty well fortified, so it’s scary.”

Police said they have prior experience with McCluskey, but not since 2019.

Despite the damage, the police department is open and operational. Officials said they expect it will take several weeks to repair the building.

Anderson said they are lucky the outcome of this incident was not any worse.

“We’re very fortunate that we have a training room, that there was training going on, and that ended about 30 minutes prior to this incident,” said Anderson.

McCluskey is charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, malicious destruction of property over $1,200, assault with a dangerous weapon (three counts), and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

If McCluskey is released from the hospital, he is expected to be arraigned Wednesday.

Shrewsbury police and the District Attorney’s Office are investigating.