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TAYLORSVILLE — After an almost eight-hour standoff, Unified police figured out where a man was hiding from them — in a clothes dryer.
The standoff began around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when police responded to a report of domestic violence at an apartment near 4559 Sunstone Road (about 700 West). A man pistol-whipped a woman and held her at gunpoint in front of her child, police said.
"It was a very dynamic situation," said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.
The woman "suffered some injuries," but she and the child got to safety, he said.
When officers arrived, one man who police did not consider to be a suspect ran and another barricaded himself inside the apartment and would not cooperate with police, according to Winder.
SWAT was called in overnight and used tear gas to try to flush the man out. Agents also sent in a robot to see what was happening inside the apartment. It wasn't until 4 a.m. Wednesday that officers had an idea where he had been hiding.
"We discovered that the male … was concealing himself in a dryer in the apartment," Winder said.
Francisco Gomez, 30, surrendered and was arrested for investigation of domestic violence in the presence of a child, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and on other warrants.
Police believe Gomez was in the clothes dryer the whole time they were searching for him.
"He's crunched up, but physically he's fine," Winder said. "I'm sure he was trying to prevent the inevitable for as long as possible."
A "rather substantial number" of people in the apartment complex were evacuated and stayed in a temporary shelter in the community clubhouse overnight.
Contributing: Shara Park
