An hours-long SWAT standoff in north Houston ended unexpectedly after police sent a drone through a broken apartment window and found the wanted suspect asleep inside. Houston police responded to an apartment near Crosstimbers and Fulton streets Monday afternoon after receiving a tip that a woman might be held against her will. The woman had contacted a victim services officer seeking help. When officers arrived, people who answered the door initially denied that either the woman or the wanted man was inside.
Continued investigation determined that the woman, the suspect, and the suspect’s mother were all in the apartment. Officers safely removed the woman and the suspect’s mother, leaving the wanted man alone inside. Police said the man had an outstanding warrant for assault involving family violence by strangulation from an earlier incident with the same woman. Authorities also had information that he may have previously threatened her with a pistol.
Concerned that he could be armed, officers called in the Houston Police Department SWAT team. What followed was a multi-hour standoff. Officers used a loudspeaker to urge the man to surrender, but he remained inside. SWAT then broke a window and flew a drone into the apartment to locate him without sending officers in immediately.
The drone revealed something few would expect during a SWAT operation: the suspect was asleep. Police woke the man, then moved in. He became combative during the arrest, and officers used a Taser to take him into custody. No one was injured despite the lengthy response and concerns about a possible weapon.
The man was held on the outstanding family violence warrant. Prosecutors will be contacted to determine whether additional charges are warranted. The unusual ending highlights how drones are becoming a valuable tool for police facing potentially dangerous situations.
Instead of immediately entering an apartment where an armed suspect might be waiting, officers could first send a small unmanned aircraft inside to determine exactly where he was—and in this case, discover that while SWAT surrounded the building and tried to convince him to come out, the wanted man was apparently sleeping.
