No charges in Phoenixville police standoff

PHOENIXVILLE» An elderly borough resident armed with a gun will not be charged after a Friday incident in which he barricaded himself inside a home, according to police.

Phoenixville Police said Wednesday that they will not be filing charges against a man after an incident in which he refused to leave a residence after a allegedly threatening a woman. Although police did not provide further details about why charges will not be filed, police said the decision came after consulting with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

Officers responded to a home on Penn Street at around 7:20 a.m. on Friday Dec. 1 after receiving a report of a domestic involving an 83-year-old man with a gun who allegedly threatened a woman who was living in the residence.

“She ran out of the house and he then barricaded himself inside,” said Phoenixville Police Chief Thomas Sjostrom.

Several area police departments were called to the scene as well as the Chester County Emergency Response Team. Sjostrom said police were in contact with the man throughout the duration of the standoff but that he “wasn’t being cooperative.”

“He kept hanging up on us. He would talk to us to a certain point. He had friends talking to us trying to just get him to come out. The SWAT team on scene were able to actually see him in his living room and they made the decision to go in at that time. We had a key to the house and officers went in and took him into custody without incident,” explained Sjostrom.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

Responding to the scene in addition to Phoenixville Police were Tredyffrin Police, Schuylkill Township Police and the Chester County Emergency Response Team.

Police had cleared the scene at around 11 a.m. Friday.