Man gives up after 16-hour standoff

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 28, 2001

By Cathy Logg

Herald Writer

MILL CREEK — A man who barricaded himself and his 20-month-old son inside an apartment and held deputies at bay for 16 hours surrendered peacefully Friday.

The 33-year-old man was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said. Neither he nor the boy was injured.

The standoff occurred after the man allegedly held a knife to the throat of a 30-year-old woman who is the boy’s mother and the man’s former girlfriend. He has a prior conviction related to domestic violence with the same woman stemming from an incident last September. At that time, prosecutors asked for a no-contact order to keep him away from the woman, but a judge refused to grant it.

There is a current no-contact order in place issued by a Bothell court, Jorgensen said.

The latest incident began about 8:15 p.m. Thursday when deputies were summoned to the Martha Lake Apartments, just off 164th Street SW and Sixth Avenue W, on a report of a domestic disturbance.

The woman and a male acquaintance were talking to the suspect outside his apartment when he became distraught and held a knife to her throat in the boy’s presence, Jorgensen said. The woman’s friend talked the suspect into putting the knife down.

He moved away from the woman, but took the boy and ran into his apartment, where he barricaded the door, Jorgensen said.

Deputies evacuated nearby apartments, and negotiators tried to talk the man into surrendering, she said.

Negotiations continued until about 12:20 p.m., when an Everett negotiator convinced the man to come out, and he was taken into custody.

Authorities brought out the boy, who was in good spirits, and reunited him with his mother, who has custody.

Jorgenson praised the negotiators.

"They were able to resolve this situation without harm to anyone… . We’re very fortunate that there were no injuries."

The suspect could face charges related to second-degree assault, Jorgensen said.

In the September 2000 incident, the man was charged with felony violation of a domestic violence protection order.

According to Snohomish County Superior Court documents, the man and his ex-girlfriend had argued at her Bothell residence. He threatened to kill her and the boy, choked her and threw a remote control at her, striking her in the leg. He then took the boy and fled, vowing to kill the baby if police tried to stop him.

Police located his car, arrested him and recovered the boy safely, court documents say. He denied assaulting the woman.

You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437

or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.