Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN -- SWAT teams surrounded a home in Eagle Mountain as a father held his 1-year-old child hostage for more than an hour. The situation ended with the suspect in police custody.
Robert Holewinski gave his weapons to police and turned himself in just before 12:30 p.m.
The incident began around 9:30 a.m. when police were called to the home in the 8400 block of Western Gailes Drive in The Ranches area on a domestic dispute between a man and woman. The dispute apparently had to do with a custody dispute over a 1-year-old boy and included some pushing and shoving, according to police. Officials say they've been called to the home before.
The situation escalated about 10 a.m. when Holewinski came outside, armed and holding the child. There is no indication Holewinski threatened the boy, but he held the boy outside for some time.
When officers arrived they found Holewinski on the porch of the home, holding the sleeping child on his lap while he was armed with a handgun.
The SWAT team was dispatched and after negotiations, two police negotiators approached Holewinski, who handed the child over to them around 11:30 a.m.
But the standoff wasn't over. For more than another hour, the man refused to give up while numerous SWAT officers set up a perimeter around the home.
A robot then delivered cigarettes to Holewinski, who had requested them. Another man inside the home was escorted out by the SWAT team.
Just before 12:30 p.m., Holewinski could be seen disarming himself and putting down his weapons before police moved in at gunpoint and took him to the ground. He was then taken to the hospital because of a report he had taken numerous pills during the standoff. He was otherwise believed to be unharmed.
"We are really grateful that we were able to successfully end this incident without anybody being injured," said Lt. Yvette Rice with the Utah County Sheriff's Office. "No shots were fired, our negotiation team did an excellent job in convincing him to cooperate and to allow our swat team members to bring him safely into custody."
Holewinski is a military veteran and was well armed with several magazines and a bulletproof vest.
Just last month, Holewinski was interviewed by KSL when former President George W. Bush held a book signing in Sandy. Holewinski talked of serving in Iraq and meeting the former Commander in Chief.
So far, Holewinski has not been booked into jail. It's unclear what charges he may be facing.
------
Story written with contributions from Sam Penrod and Marc Giauque.
---
