Five-hour Redmond standoff ends peacefully

A downtown Redmond house was surrounded by police, many with guns drawn, and neighbors were evacuated for nearly five hours Thursday afternoon and evening after a man allegedly chased and threatened at least three women with a large knife, officers said.

The standoff that forced closure of nearby streets and some evacuations and lockdowns of a bank and the nearby Redmond Proficiency Academy ended when the man, whose name was withheld, was taken into custody without injury and taken to St. Charles-Redmond for evaluation, said Lt. Nathan Garibay.

Police responded to the 700 block of SW Seventh Street around 3:20 p.m. on at least two separate incidents in the area of Seventh and Highland and contacted the man, who was uncooperative and refused to comply with officers’ directions, Garibay said.

The man then went back inside his home and refused to come out, Garibay said. Officers tried several means to encourage him to come out, without success, and soon Seventh Street, and later Highland Avenue were closed to traffic as officers surrounded the home, many with guns drawn.

“We located the subject at a residence on 7th Street, he was uncooperative, and due to the nature of the call, and the danger to the public, we immediately contained the location and surrounded the house,” said Garibay.

“We attempted for numerous hours to get the subject to come out of the residence,” he added.

Well after nightfall, and armed with a search warrant, officers and members of the Central Oregon Emergency Response (CERT) Team, the region’s SWAT team, entered the home and took the man into custody, Garibay said, adding that there were no injuries.

“He was alone inside the house,” Garibay said.

Garibay said police were investigating possible charges — three counts each of menacing and unlawful use of a weapon, and disorderly contact — and will work with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and social service agencies “to determine an appropriate resolution.”

Garibay said early on that residents of houses directly adjacent to the one on the west side of the street were asked to evacuate while they dealt with the man.

A nearby bank locked its doors and a loudspeaker was heard several times, as officers urged the man to come out of the home or turn on his cell phone to talk to them.

“We have the situation contained,” Garibay said early on.

Later, Highland Avenue was closed in the area as well, as the tactical operations team arrived and portable lights were brought in to illuminate the scene.

A friend who was on scene told us the man’s mother died late last year, and he had been laid off from his job and evicted from his apartment.

It was a busy day for police in the Redmond area, as the apparent standoff came just a few hours after a chase led to a crash into an OSP pickup truck and the arrest of a wanted Redmond man.