November 22, 2008
Overlea standoff ends peacefully
Armed man who entered home had taken, then freed three hostages
A 14-hour standoff ended peacefully yesterday evening when an Overlea man gave himself up to Baltimore County police, several hours after releasing three unharmed hostages, authorities said.
A tactical police unit "coaxed him out voluntarily" about 6:30 p.m. yesterday, said Cpl. Ben Yohe. "Charges have not been determined at this point," he said. The man's name will be released today, he said.
The man entered the home in the first block of Walnut Ave. about 4 a.m. looking for his girlfriend but didn't find her, said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman. Officers responded to the scene and spotted a man inside the home carrying a "long gun," Toohey said.
One of the three people held hostage in the home - the owner, Bruce Connelly Smith, 62 - was released about 9:25 a.m., Toohey said. The other two - resident Danille Renee Erhardt, 31, and visitor Kenneth Lewis Collins, 26 - were released about 11:45 a.m., police said, but the suspect remained inside.
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Officers set up a perimeter outside the house, which is on a side street near Belair Road. Police also shut down Belair Road between Taylor Avenue and East Northern Parkway, diverted traffic and told residents in the area to stay inside their homes.
A Catholic school near the scene, St. Michael the Archangel, did not open yesterday because of the incident, police said. Toohey said there were no reports of injuries or shots fired.
Armored police vehicles were parked on nearby streets and members of the department's SWAT team had taken positions throughout the neighborhood. Police officials used an automated phone-calling system that dialed the homes of residents in the area and played a recorded message advising people to stay indoors during the incident.
Regina Monaghan and her husband, Paul, were one of many neighbors in the Overlea neighborhood, west of Belair Road, who stayed inside their homes through the morning. She said that at one point, members of the SWAT team could be seen searching through her backyard.
While Monaghan was talking with a Baltimore Sun reporter, a SWAT team member carrying a rifle walked up her driveway, across her backyard past a plastic children's gym set used by Monaghan's grandchildren and disappeared behind bushes in a neighbor's yard.
"Police officers were in the neighborhood walking through very carefully and very quietly," said Monaghan, 71. "The police were unobtrusive and didn't scare anyone, but were doing their job very well."
Baltimore City police assisted in the incident because it occurred near the city-county line, Toohey said.
Baltimore Sun reporter Gadi Dechter contributed to this article.
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