Rachel Derken-Bratton Photo
Police take suspect into custody Thursday.
Rachel Derken-Bratton photo
A tense standoff on Livingston Street between a barricaded man and local cops and federal agents that led to evacuation of nearby residents ended peacefully when the suspect surrendered with no shots fired on either side.
City Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson and East Rock/Newhallville top cop Lt. Manmeet Colon both confirmed Thursday afternoon that the suspect had been taken into custody “peacefully” shortly after noon after initially barricading himself in an apartment on Livingston between Lawrence and Cottage streets.
“Detectives were looking to follow-up with an individual regarding an investigation,” Sgt. Sheyna Kendall wrote in a release. “The individual then barricaded himself. “
Cops did not disclose whether the man was armed.
Colon said he was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
The man came out of the house with a dog.
Thomas Breen photo
The scene on Livingston Street near Lawrence, after the arrest.
Jacobson said that “another agency” was also on scene. He did not answer what agency, but did confirm that that other agency was not the FBI. Neighbors reported seeing officials in ATF [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) jackets on the scene.
Colon, parked near the corner of Cottage and Livingston Streets just before 1 p.m., said that the block between Lawrence and Cottage would likely be closed to traffic for a little while longer while police wait for a search warrant.
Thomas Breen photo
Blocking off the intersection of Orange and Lawrence.
Rachel Derken-Bratton
One neighbor who lives on Livingston Street between Lawrence and Cottage said she saw most of the law enforcement action play out in real time from her second-floor apartment and, later, her groundfloor porch.
The neighbor, Rachel Derken-Bratton, said she got home from an appointment at around 11:15 a.m. The area was already swarming with police officers, she said, who had their weapons drawn and were running quietly into positions around the block. They seemed to have their attention focused on one house in particular on the eastern side of Livingston Street.
Roughly 20 minutes later, she said, police started evacuating residents from houses adjacent to the one in question.
“These folks were clearly not expecting to have to leave,” she said, as she recalled seeing some residents only partially dressed ushered out of their homes and away from the scene.
Derken-Bratton said one officer with a long gun drawn crouched near her house, pointing towards the house across the way. After a few minutes, he visibly relaxed, as did the other officers in the area.
She then saw a man — young, in his 20s, wearing an undershirt and walking a dog on a leash — escorted in handcuffs by police out of the Livingston Street house across the way and into the back of a cruiser.
“It hurts my heart, really,” she said about watching the spectacle play out on her block, where she has lived since only November.