Standoff in Northwest Grand Rapids ends with suspect’s surrender
By Tanda Gmiter | The Grand Rapids Press The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS — After more than five hours, a suspect in a Northwest Side standoff with police has surrendered, coming out of his Alpine Avenue home and lying on the sidewalk.
In the minutes before his surrender, police reportedly used chemical gas in an attempt to force the man from his home, where he’d been holed up and alternately taunting police and telling them to shoot him after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, according to police and dispatch reports.
No one was injured, Police Chief Kevin Belk said.
Around 5 p.m., Belk said the man’s girlfriend called police and reported her boyfriend had locked her in the attic of a home in the 1400 block of Alpine Avenue NW, near Myrtle Street, and was tearing things up in the home.
When police arrived, the man taunted officers, saying they could shoot him, police said.
There were initial reports of shots being fired at officers, but Belk later said those had not been confirmed. At one point the suspect was carrying something in his hands that may have looked like a gun.
During the hours-long standoff, the 41-year-old suspect alternated between being inside the home and coming out on a porch roof, bringing out alcohol and exposing himself to officers.
At certain points during the standoff, the man allegedly shouted at officers, “Go ahead, shoot me.”
Belk said the suspect, who he described as having mental health issues, was on parole after being convicted of burglary charges.
He is currently being held on a parole violation, and is expected to be arraigned on new charges related to the standoff.
After the standoff ended around 10:15 p.m., officers asked for a police cruiser to put the man in. He was to be taken to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
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