Armed man goes cross-country to meet teen

MADISON, Wis., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts man drove to Wisconsin with an arsenal for a face-to-face meeting with a 17-year-old boy he met online, police allege.

Police said Trevor L. Lucas, 21, of Gloucester drove to Madison last week looking for the teen he met during an online session of the role-playing game "world of Warcraft," the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison reported Thursday.

Massachusetts State Police arrested Lucas Friday after he fled Madison following a confrontation with the teen's mother.

"We feel extremely lucky that we've avoided a homicide," Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Wednesday.

Police credited the teen's mother for playing "a significant role in preventing her son from being victimized, injured or killed," DeSpain said.

In a criminal complaint, officials allege Lucas asked the teen for nude photos of himself about a year ago. The youth, then 16, notified Madison police and put Lucas on an "ignore list" for the game, the State Journal said. The complaint said Lucas sent the boy messages threatening to hurt him if he didn't pay Lucas money Lucas claimed to have spent on him in the game.

Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Michael Popovics said they found semi-automatic handguns, stun guns, pepper spray containers, assault knives, two expandable police batons and handcuffs when they arrested Lucas near Boston.