Bangor Daily News – Dawn Gagnon and Seth Koenig, April 29, 2013
PORTLAND, Maine — A standoff Monday between a man who barricaded himself inside an Alder Street duplex and Portland police ended after more than four hours with the man’s arrest.
Kyle Upton, 28, is charged with the domestic violence crimes of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing, assault and causing a police standoff, Portland police said in a news release late Monday night.
Upton, who is homeless, was staying with acquaintances in the apartment at 41 Alder St. but was alone throughout the incident, police officials said.
Portland police Chief Mike Sauschuck said early Monday evening that the standoff began shortly before 3 p.m., when the Police Department was sent to the duplex to investigate a report of a domestic violence assault.
“The information we received led us to believe that the individual inside the residence was armed,” Sauschuk said. Upton refused to comply with police officers’ orders to come out of the building.
The Police Department’s crisis negotiators communicated with the man by cellphone for several hours before convincing him to surrender shortly after 7 p.m.
At least eight police vehicles converged at the scene, including Portland’s green military-style Bearcat, used for SWAT situations.
A crowd of about 40 people gathered across Portland Street from the incident looking on. Police roped off the area near the intersection of Alder and Oxford streets until the standoff concluded.
Jennifer Bann, who was among the onlookers and said she lives in the area, said police moved a group of pedestrians from the corner of Alder Street because they were in the possible line of fire from the house where the suspect is holed up.
“An officer ran into a house up there around 3:15 with a rifle,” she said. “There was another officer [who looked like he had] a sniper rifle leaning up against a truck across the street.”
Todd Fournier, who is the landlord of the building where the suspect is located, said the suspect is not a tenant of his.
He said police asked him to draw up a map of the building in case they need to go in.
Fournier said he believes the suspect is an acquaintance of his second-floor tenants, who are in the process of moving out.
“For whatever reason, he got upset about something and started waving a gun around,” he said. “[My tenants] felt threatened and went to the police.”
Sauschuk said the alleged victim did not require medical attention.
Adjacent buildings were evacuated and area streets closed while negotiations continued. The affected streets were reopened about 7:30 p.m.
BDN blogger Bob Higgins contributed to this report.
This is how they will take you all down 1 at a time. Regardless what their unjust reasons are.
Wow. All of those soldiers and special tanks and swat vehicles for ONE lonely little stupid guy!!! Reminds me of the Boston incident all over again.
Our policemen are really the biggest cowards in history. They really are a sorry excuse for policemen. I don’t even know what they do anymore since they never fight crime. They just call the military and Feds. Their biggest action all day is getting a papercut while giving a $50 ticket to someone for jaywalking. Anything else and they might be afraid to break a nail. Awwww……..what a bunch of sissys.
Must be nice to get a paycheck and do nothing all day. Reminds me of the police in China. Except the police in China don’t taser the shit out of you for asking them a question. They just sit there and smoke and ignore you until you go away.