Police say Portage man arrested after 2-hour standoff

Portage police took a Portage man into custody Monday afternoon after a standoff with the department’s SWAT team that closed Samuelson Road for more than two hours.

Jeremiah Owens, 26, was charged with a felony count of domestic battery, a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, two Porter County warrants and a parole violation warrant, according to a news release from Lt. Rob Maynard, Portage police public information officer.

Police responded to a call at 10:33 a.m. about a report that a male had attacked a female and stole her cellphone near the intersection of Samuelson Road and Laurel Avenue. An off-duty officer in his marked police vehicle was in the area and spotted a male fleeing eastbound on foot but fled into the backyard of a residence in the 1800 block of Samuelson Road.

A woman came out of the backyard and told police she was the victim and the suspect was her boyfriend and he had just kicked in the back door and was hiding in the basement, according to the release. The victim said she thought Owens was armed with a knife and possibly a handgun, though that could have been a replica.

Police formed a perimeter around the home and learned there was a woman with autism in the home who was hiding under blankets on the second floor, as well as a large dog that would likely attempt to bite officers if they entered the home.

The SWAT team entered the home and was able to safely remove the woman with autism. The dog was aggressive but an officer deployed a stun gun to drive it back and police were able to get the dog into the backyard without additional force.

Another woman also was located inside the house and escorted to safety.

Owens was taken into custody without further incident or injury at 12:44 p.m. Police transported him to a nearby hospital as a precautionary measure and took him to Porter County Jail after he was medically cleared.

Police also took Donna Fazekas, 53, of Portage into custody at the scene because there was an active warrant for her arrest on a misdemeanor theft charge.

The woman with autism was uninjured and released to a relative, and the dog was returned to the homeowner.