A Portage man faces several felony charges after he barricaded himself inside a Portage home during a tense, three-hour standoff with police officers Saturday.
The 39-year-old man was arrested and is being held in the Porter County Jail, pending formal charges to be filed by the prosecutor’s office. Government offices were closed Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Portage police were originally called at 9:40 a.m. Saturday by a woman to the 3000 block of Dutch Mill Street on a report that her relative had battered her and destroyed her cellphone. A Portage Police release detailed what happened in the standoff that ended around 12:40 p.m.
The woman said that her relative came to her house and was “talking crazy”. He then smashed her phone and pummeled her face and head with his fists.
She was able to break free and fled her house. She heard her relative proclaim that he would shoot anyone who entered the house.
The man was known to be armed with a shotgun, handgun, sword and several large knives. The woman told police that she suspects that he suffers from undiagnosed mental health issues.
Patrol officers saw the man in a second-floor bay window, placing a shotgun and ammunition along the window ledge. The man yelled threats at the officers and stated he was going to fill the house with gas and blow it up.
The department’s Crisis Negotiation and SWAT teams were activated and a large perimeter was set up around the house. Attempts were made to contact the man by phone, but he either ignored the calls or when he did answer, would swear and make nonsensical statements.
Sometimes the man would go to the window and wave his sword or a knife while he screamed at officers. He refused orders to surrender.
SWAT Team members deployed chemical agents and the man attempted to climb out a lower-floor window.
When officers came toward him, the man retreated inside. Officers broke in through the front door and that’s where they confronted him.
The man had a large knife in a sheath on his hip and refused to follow the officer’s commands.
That’s when a SWAT Team officer fired a non-lethal impact projectile, incapacitating the man long enough so that he could be taken into custody.
A 12-gauge shotgun, sword and five large knives were recovered from the house. Officers also found ammunition stored in various locations on the top floor of the house.
Captain Rob Maynard, public information officer for Portage Police, thanked the neighbors for helping the victim and offering their homes to officers for use as observation and for warming purposes during the incident.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.