HEMET: Officers safely detain knife-wielding man, ending barricaded standoff

HEMET — Officials managed to safely take a knife-wielding man into custody after the subject armed himself with multiple knives and barricaded himself inside his home with his terrified wife and her puppy earlier tonight. The standoff happened at a home located on the southwest corner of Imperial Way and El Dorado Lane, northwest of N. Palm and W. Oakland Avenues, in Hemet.

Officers eventually rescued the woman and her dog, before taking the defiant man down with a well-placed Taser deployment. It was not immediately known if the man was booked for any crimes or if he was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

City of Hemet police officers responded to the double-wide mobile home just after 7:30 p.m. Although it was not immediately known what officers initially responded to the home regarding, when the first officer arrived at the home the alleged suspect reportedly came out of the mobile-home armed with two knives – one in each hand.

While the officer put out a priority call for assistance the man went back into the residence with his wife and a dog, where he locked and barricaded the home’s doors.

Responding officers learned the man had a history of mental illness as well as being non-compliant and combative with officers in the past.

While officers converged on the area and flooded into the small neighborhood, the man closed the home’s blinds and refused to speak with or cooperate with officials.

Patrol officers, Gang Task Force members, specials teams officers and supervisors who responded to the scene eventually managed to rescue the woman and her puppy from the home, at which time they turned their attention to the highly agitated man.

As the barricaded standoff continued officers requested less-lethal options to the scene, including bean-bag shotguns, pepperball rifles and Tasers. Firefighters and other medical personnel were requested to stage in the area and be ready to respond if needed.

With at least a dozen patrol officers and nearly as many special teams members at the scene and the front of the home awash in light from the patrol vehicle’s spotlights, officers with guns drawn attempted to negotiate with the man from behind their patrol vehicles.

The man was eventually spotted at one of the home’s front windows, where he shattered and broke out the window and knocked out the window’s screen so he could ask officers for a smoke. Although a simple request, not one officer at the scene was able to produce a cigarette and officials quickly resorted to asking nearby crowds of neighbors and curious onlookers for a pack to help calm the irrational man’s nerves.

Although the man said if he could smoke a cigarette he would comply with officer’s orders, officials were not ready to take a chance and while two officers approached the home’s window and placed a package of cigarettes on the window sill, other officers stood by, ready to spring into action.

As the man peeked through his blinds to check out the smokes, two officers – one with a Taser at the ready, the other with his gun drawn – stood just out of his line of sight. As he began to reach through the blinds and broken window to snag the cigarettes, the officer armed with the Taser took quick aim and fired, squarely hitting the man with the Taser’s twin electric pronged probes – instantly taking him down with a short jolt of electricity.

After the successful Taser deployment, three teams of at least a dozen officers rushed in from multiple directions with their guns drawn. Some swarmed to the front window to provide more cover for the two officers and hold the man at gunpoint, while other officers raced around to the home’s front and rear doors.

Officers found both doors locked and barricaded and had to kick down the doors in order to make entry into the residence.

Although the initial Taser deployment managed to momentarily stun and disable the large man, officers at the front of the home ended up having to use at least one additional Taser deployment to keep the subject from getting back up and potentially harming approaching officers.

At least one officer vaulted through the home’s front window to take the still non-compliant man into custody, just as officers had finally managed to force entry to the home and were approaching from inside the residence.

Within moments a supervisor at the scene advised from outside the home’s front window that officers had successfully gained entry to the home after the Taser deployments and were taking the man into custody.

City of Hemet emergency dispatchers summoned firefighters and other emergency first responders to the scene to treat the man for minor injuries related to the Taser deployment. Firefighters, already alerted to the crisis and staged in the area nearby, were at the home within moments. AMR medics arrived just a few minutes later.

Officers eventually led the shirtless man from his home to a waiting patrol vehicle. While paramedics attempted to speak with the man, he could be heard yelling incoherently and directing vulgarities at the bemused officals – who stood by – patiently taking the verbal tirade and abuse.

Among other obscenities and threats, the man could be heard repeatedly yelling, “You m—–f—–‘s may have got one over on me this time, but I’ll be back and I’ll be ready for you next time!”

Instead of calming down the man began to get more confrontational and abusive and began spitting at and on officers, who were eventually forced to place a “spit-shield” netting over the man’s head, to stop him from spitting on them.

Other than the alleged suspect, there were no reported injuries related to the standoff or arrest.

Officials, still in the early stages of their investigation, have not yet released any information related to the incident and man’s arrest.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information becomes available.

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Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents video

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as 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, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries 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.