11 Hour Standoff Ends in Arrests

11 Hour Standoff Ends in Arrests


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John Hollenhorst reporting It was a long day in a Millcreek neighborhood as SWAT teams and snipers surrounded a house and waited out some criminals holed up inside.

Kevin Ford, Neighbor: "My girlfriend and her sisters and my next door neighbor, they were all scared, and scared for the kids."

It began with a pair of robberies and a stabbing yesterday, and ended this afternoon after many tense hours. Detectives are still trying to sort out exactly what happened and whether one man who was holed up all day was a hostage or a bad guy.

They did make about a half-dozen arrests overall and managed to end the standoff peacefully, without gunfire.

It was a rare sight for a Sunday morning. SWAT teams and snipers, on 33rd South at about 2700 East.

Scott Ricks, Neighbor: "It was scary at first. I actually thought it was training at first, because I'm not used to this happening in this area."

Definitely the real thing. A tense standoff surrounding suspects from two crimes on Saturday.

Dwayne Baird, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "It began with two individuals that wanted to buy some drugs or get money."

At two different homes Saturday, they stabbed a man and tied up two robbery victims. Just after 2 am, detectives staking out this house saw the two suspects go in, joining several others as the standoff began.

Dwayne Baird: "We were able to negotiate the release of five adults and a baby that were taken out of the house this morning around 5, 5:30."

Among them was robbery suspect Michael Lattray. Several others were arrested on unrelated charges as unhappy neighbors looked on.

Sandy Decker, Neighbor: "Frustrated. We have had problems in the neighborhood with drugs going on, and it's really just hard for us in the neighborhood."

Two people remained inside.

Police scanner: "We can see at least two people inside. They do not appear to be hostages. Suspect is in possession of a handgun."

But after frequent communication with police negotiators, the remaining two gave up after 11 hours.

Police scanner: "Sniper one, door opening. Suspect, he's at the gate. Suspect number two coming out, open hands."

Neighbors watched as robbery suspect Jacob Vigil and another man were taken away in handcuffs.

Kevin Ford, Neighbor: "They didn't look upset. They just looked like, 'Oh, just another day, getting pulled out by cops,' was their attitude in my opinion. Just stonefaced."

As of tonight, investigators still haven't announced if that second man who stayed inside was a hostage. A police spokesman said tonight it's possible he willingly played a role in the standoff, and only put on an act.

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