RIVERSIDE: Man arrested after domestic violence incident leads to hours-long standoff

RIVERSIDE – A barricaded suspect was arrested after he held officers at bay during an early-morning, five-hour long standoff at a Mission Grove-area home Sunday morning April 23. The standoff happened on the 100 block of Port Royal Way, north of E. Allesandro Boulevard and west of Mission Grove Parkway North, in Riverside.

The standoff began with the report of a domestic violence-related incident that allegedly occurred a few hours earlier the previous evening, Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback said after the incident.

The incident was first reported to Riverside police officers Saturday, April 22, about 9:30 p.m.

During their investigation, officers determined the incident allegedly happened at the Port Royal residence.

Officers also learned that the suspect, who was later identified as 57-year-old, Scott David Johnson, does not live at the residence where the incident happened, Railsback explained.

The victim told officers that Johnson had a firearm during the domestic violence incident and that he may still be in possession of that firearm or other weapons at the residence.

Officers went to the residence to interview Johnson regarding the alleged domestic violence shortly after midnight.

Rather than come out of the residence and speak with officers, Johnson reportedly refused to exit the home and he ignored officers’ requests to come out, barricading himself in the home.

Officers established a perimeter around the residence and continued to try to coax the suspect out of the home.

Several hours into the standoff – and with the possibility that Johnson had access to multiple weapons and firearms inside the residence – officers at the scene requested support and assistance from the department’s METRO/SWAT team, detectives and crisis negotiators.

While officials negotiated with Johnson, assisting officers closed several streets in the area, restricting access into the normally quiet neighborhood.

As the incident continued, an armored tactical rescue vehicle and an American Medical Response Tactical Emergency Medical Services response vehicle responded to the scene.

AMR’s TEMS unit is activated every time Riverside PD’s METRO/SWAT Team is called into action. The specially trained and well prepared unit has received tactical training from the International School of Tactical Medicine and trains with Riverside PD’s METRO/SWAT team four times per month. The TEMS unit operates 24-hours a day and is on call for all TEMS activations.

About 5:20 a.m., more than five hours after the incident began, Johnson finally exited the residence and he was detained without further incident.

After the conclusion of their initial investigation, officials arrested Johnson and he was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of felony false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, making terrorist threats and domestic battery.

An online jail records search revealed Johnson remains jailed on $250,000 bail and his next court appearance is scheduled at the Riverside Hall of Justice April 26.

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Trevor Montgomery runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News and Anza Valley Outlook and also writes for Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg and breaking his back in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.