Police negotiate surrender after talks with man who holed himself up in apartment
8-hour Hess Street standoff ends peacefully
A standoff with Hamilton police at an apartment building on Hess Street South ended peacefully when the man gave himself up after eight hours of negotiations.
A 30-year-old Hamilton man faces three counts of breach of probation after holing up in an apartment on the fifth floor of 95 Hess St. S., near Jackson Street West, Saturday from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“It resolved the way it needed to,” said Hamilton police Const. Steve Welton. “The team did an absolutely wonderful job in being patient and working through communications with the man to come to a conclusion that at a specific time he would surrender to police without incident.”
The police investigation continues, but it’s believed no weapons were involved.
No hostages were taken during the standoff, but Welton said the man was not alone in the apartment.
The fifth floor of the apartment was evacuated, three streets closed and an ambulance was standing by during the standoff.
“There were no injuries involved in the incident,” said Welton.
The standoff started at about 5 a.m. with a call to police from the building’s security about a trespasser. Upon arrival, police realized the man was on probation and alleged to be breaking court-ordered probation conditions by being at the building.
“He fled inside an apartment,” said Welton. “What we saw initially was an individual not co-operating and refusing to establish communications.”
A trained police negotiator was called in and soon the man was talking. Welton did not provide details of any demands the man made, except to say the negotiations were “reasonable.”
Parts of Jackson Street West, Hess Street South and Hunter Street West were closed for the morning. Residents of the fifth floor were moved to a safe location although the rest of the highrise remained open.
“Any time a situation like this happens in the community it can create concern, and we understand that,” said Welton. “A lot of the residents were thanking the police officers. We were sharing the information we could at the time.”
The man’s name has not been released by police.
“We certainly thank the residents inside the building,” said Welton. “We know some of the surrounding businesses had vehicle traffic rerouted so we thank them. Even some of the businesses were gracious in letting police officers use their facilities. As much as it was a police response, the community did their part.”