Sheriff coaxes man off roof of house
Man arrested following Wednesday incident
Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts coaxed a man from a rooftop Wednesday, allowing the El Dorado Police Department to proceed with executing a warrant for the man's arrest.
Shawn S. Choate, 40, of the 1200 block of Janwood, was identified as a suspect in a vehicle break-in and theft that was reported Jan. 17 in the 300 block of North Washington.
The complainant told officers that a car pulled alongside his pickup truck, which was parked in the area, and a male exited the car, opened the toolbox in the bed of the pickup truck and stole some tools, a tool bag containing various tools and a tool tray.
The complainant said he went outside and yelled at the suspect, who then drove away "rapidly." The suspect was described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall and wearing glasses.
Capt. Scott Harwell, of the El Dorado Police Department's Criminal Investigative Division, said officers reviewed surveillance video that was captured by security cameras and recognized Choate as the driver of the car.
Investigators were also able to identify the make and model of the car Choate was driving and learned that his motherin-law owned the vehicle
Police subsequently obtained a warrant for Choate's arrest and attempted to execute the warrant Wednesday afternoon at the Janwood residence.
"We went there earlier in the day and he wasn't there," Harwell said.
When a patrol officer spotted Choate in the yard a short time later, Choate
began running and scurried up to the roof of a neighbor's house nearby in the 1200 block of Briarwood, Harwell said.
Choate refused to come down unless he could speak with Roberts.
"Patrol called CID to the scene, and I've got a [crisis] negotiator in my division and we also called in the [El Dorado Fire Department] with a ladder truck and we had an ambulance on standby in the event we had any injuries if we had to get up on the roof," Harwell said, adding that it was raining and sleeting at the time.
"We were definitely concerned about our footing safety and we were concerned about his footing safety … It was probably about a 10-foot drop," he continued.
Roberts said he immediately recognized Choate's name when he received a call from Lt. Chris Lutman of the EPD about the situation, saying their paths often crossed during Roberts' 28 years at the EPD.
Roberts retired from the EPD in 2013, having spent 13 years as chief. He was elected to his first term as sheriff in 2016.
"Lutman called and said, 'I've got this guy on the roof and he won't come down and he wants to talk to you,'" Roberts said, adding, "I've been knowing [Choate] for a long time since I was at the [police department] and I've arrested him since I've been at the county."
During the stand-off with Choate, Roberts said Choate threatened to jump from the roof to avoid arrest and demanded that officers not handcuff him.
"I'm just glad nobody was hurt," Roberts said. "If you have a rapport with somebody, we use that to our advantage because I didn't want him to hurt anybody or for anybody to hurt him."
Harwell said Choate surrendered approximately 15 minutes after Harwell arrived on the scene.
"Everyone else had been there longer. He climbed down to a retaining wall that was in the garage and he jumped to the ground about 5 feet," Harwell said.
Choate was then taken into custody without further incident.
He is scheduled for a first appearance hearing today in 35th Judicial District Court on charges of breaking or entering and theft of property.