SWAT team arrests DV suspect after 7-hour standoff in Spanaway

A SWAT team arrested a domestic violence suspect after a seven-hour standoff in Spanaway, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.

SPANAWAY, Wash. - Deputies arrested a domestic violence suspect after a seven-hour SWAT standoff in Spanaway on Wednesday.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), at 11:13 a.m., deputies responded to a domestic violence incident near the corner of 165th St. E and 25th Ave. Ct. E. This area is several blocks east of Spanaway Lake High School.

When deputies arrived, they contacted the victim—a woman who had numerous bruises and reported being assaulted by her husband.

After searching through the husband's criminal history, his records indicated that he had several warrants for his arrest including domestic violence felony harassment, burglary and assault. Deputies tried contacting the suspect inside the house by phone and loudspeaker, but he refused to get out. After learning he had access to firearms, deputies called in a SWAT team.

Hostage negotiators texted with the husband for seven-and-a-half hours to get him to surrender. SWAT members used robots to look in all the windows and check every room for the man, but could not find him.

Authorities concluded he was somewhere out of sight, possibly hiding in a crawlspace.

SWAT K9 Brix was brought into the garage with a SWAT Team, and immediately picked up a scent on a car parked there. Deputies opened the trunk and found the suspect, who they safely took into police custody.

Detectives received a search warrant for the property, and determined the gun used by the husband was actually an AR-15 style BB gun painted to look like a real firearm. They also found firearm parts and ammunition inside the home.

The 45-year-old man was booked into Pierce County Jail for second-degree assault, kidnapping, felony harassment and his outstanding warrants.

Spanaway Crime and Public Safety