November 17, 2017 at 3:45 p.m.
Man arrested after 6-hour standoff
Suspect had open warrants in misdemeanor cases
Man arrested after 6-hour standoff
According to the sheriff's office, officers mobilized just before 10 a.m. after the 9-1-1 Center received a call from a person reporting a man with a gun was threatening to kill himself and others in a house on U.S. Highway 8. According to sheriff Grady Hartman, the sheriff's office later learned there were four individuals, including a child, inside the residence and the man was armed with a knife.
"We ended up sending our special response team (SRT) to handle the situation," Hartman said.
The man, later identified as Mathew Smith, allowed the other people to leave before the special response team arrived. Hartman said Smith initially came out of the house but then ran back in and barricaded himself inside.
"Our special response team worked to get him out, they followed their protocols and were finally able to get him into custody," Hartman said.
Hartman could not immediately say whether Smith was injured while he was being taken into custody.
"The special response team did deploy some (tear) gas into the residence," Hartman said. "That's part of their protocols on getting a barricaded suspect out of a residence."
Hartman said initial reports indicated Smith was holding the other people in the house against their will, but that turned out not to be the case.
"They were able to leave the house without any interference from him," Hartman said.
While detectives are still investigating, Hartman said he believes there were drugs involved. He would not specify which drug. He said Smith was armed with a knife and the weapon was recovered when he was taken into custody.
"I haven't seen the knife, but we were told there was a knife and we're taking it as a serious, violent situation," Hartman said.
A press release from sheriff's captain Terri Hook reports Smith was booked on preliminary charges of domestic violence disorderly conduct, failure to comply with an officer's attempt to take the person into custody, and multiple warrants.
Hartman said the failure to comply charge - barricading himself in the house - would be a felony.
Smith has two misdemeanor cases pending in Oneida County Circuit Court. One involves bail jumping and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license (2nd offense in 3 years) while the other case includes two bail jumping charges along with possession of THC and drug paraphernalia.
He did not appear at his last scheduled court appearances in those cases, resulting in arrest warrants being issued.
In addition to the sheriff's department and the SRT, Hartman said Oneida County EMS, the Rhinelander Police Department, Langlade County Sheriff's Office, the Minocqua Police Department, and GLIFWC also assisted at the scene.
Langlade County its SRT which Hartman said helped in the situation.
"We work closely with them as our backup team and others, as well," he said. "If we don't have the manpower to accomplish the situation, we ask for help and other sheriffs and police chiefs are gracious enough to give it to us."
Hartman stressed that the reason the standoff lasted as long as it did was because the SRT opted to resolve the situation without the use of lethal force.
"It's important that we follow our protocols on the use of force, that's why it took so long. We give chances to surrender peacefully, we slowly ramp up our use of force until we get compliance," Hartman said.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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