Photos for NSBNEWS.net by Chris Atwell
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office brought out its big artillery, including a tank (shown above) to deal with a standoff with an angry husband who barricaded himself in his home after a fight with his wife, just outside the Edgewater City limits.
EDGEWATER --A SWAT team and a tank were not enough to get an angry husband who barricaded himself in his home Sunday after a fight with his wife to surrender. The man's fix for a cigarette ended the nearly seven-hour standoff peacefully when he stepped outside to light up and was grabbed and taken into custody.
The standoff ended at 9:45 p.m. when the man, 35-year-old Thomas Sheppard, stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said.
Sheriff's deputies initially responded to a 9-1-1 call directing them to 1821 Maplewood Drive, just outside the city limits near Indian River Boulevard, with the wife stating her husband had ripped some of her clothing off of her. The wife told deputies her husband owned a gun, but she did not see it on him. Because of the nature of the allegation, NSBNEWS.net is withholding the wife's name.
She told deputies her husband was "crazy" and had threatened to shoot himself if any of them tried to enter the residence. After an hour's wait, a SWAT team, was called in along with a hostage negotiator and heavy artillery, including a tank.
But negotiations were one-sided with Sheppard not responding for close to another six hours before he stepped outside to smoke that deputies had their opportunity to end the standoff peacefully. He was taken into custody and arrested on domestic violence-related charges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
