Man arrested after barricading himself in apartment

Fernley man arrested after 3-hour standoff

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

A Fernley man was arrested Thursday morning on domestic violence charges after a 3-hour standoff at an apartment complex on Willow Way.

Jonathan Garcia, 24, was arrested on charges of battery with a deadly weapon and domestic battery. He is being held at the Lyon County Detention Center in Yerington.

The situation began just after 8 a.m. when the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic dispute on the 400 block of Willow Way. The arriving deputy found a woman with an injury to her foot that required immediate medical attention, and Garcia had locked himself in a bedroom.

Deputies charged that he refused to come out of the room and threatened them to come in and get him.

A unified command was quickly established to handle the influx of additional law enforcement, fire and rescue assets, and other support agencies.

Because of the verbalized threats at law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office deployed its Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team and Crisis Negotiations Team to the scene. In addition, seven apartment buildings were evacuated to ensure the safety of residents, and the Fernley Elementary and Fernley Intermediate schools were put into lockdown as a safety precaution due to their close proximity to the operation.

Over the following three hours, the Crisis Negotiation Team worked with Garcia to a voluntary surrender to deputies.

Sheriff Al McNeil wants to thank all the agencies and entities that came together during the situation: Mayor Roy Edgington and the City of Fernley for establishing the media staging area and the Street Department for setting up road closures and other support; the Lyon County Human Services for providing transportation to evacuate the elderly and disabled to the Fernley Senior Center, the LCSO Volunteers in Policing, the North Lyon County Fire Protection District, the Southwest Gas response team and the Nevada Highway Patrol.

“Only with everyone’s help and efforts were we able to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution,” McNeil said.

Previous updates on the story are included below.

1:17 p.m. UPDATE

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The suspect who barricaded himself in an apartment on Willow Way has been arrested and is being take to the Lyon County Jail in Yerington, Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil said. The LCSO has not yet released the identity of the suspect, or all of the charges, but McNeil said the charges will include a felony domestic abuse charge.

McNeil said the Sheriff’s Office crisis negotiation team attempted to negotiate with the suspect.

“It was fairly sporadic. It wasn’t a long, protracted negotiation,” McNeil said. “We tried our crisis negotiation phone and he threw it back out. It was challenging.”

McNeil said the suspect made threats, but declined to offer any specifics.

The incident was the first time the Sheriff’s Office and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District set up a unified command at an emergency scene.

“We’ve been trained on it and implemented it today,” McNeil said.

Other agencies involved were the City of Fernley Public Works Department, which helped establish the scene, Lyon County Human Services, which helped evacuate several apartments, including elderly residents and one disabled person, and transported them to the Senior Center.

Southwest Gas and NV Energy were also called to cut the power and gas to the apartments to mitigate any potential hazards, McNeil said.

“There were a lot of moving parts there and the cooperation of all the agencies there was very, very impressive,” McNeil said.

11:01 a.m. UPDATE: FERNLEY POLICE OPERATION CONCLUDED

The stand-off with the barricaded suspect is over with one individual in custody. The suspect has not yet been identified. The situation began just after 8 a.m. with the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office responding to a domestic dispute on the 400 block of Willow Way in Fernley.

Deputies and other responding law enforcement were able to keep the suspect contained to the apartment, and at no time was there a threat to the community. Fernley Elementary and Fernley Intermediate Schools were in lockdown during the operation as a safety precaution due to their close proximity to the operation.

Original story

Lyon County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to avoid Willow Way between Curry Drive and Silver Lace Blvd in Fernley due to an active police operation.

Fernley Intermediate and Elementary schools were placed in  Hold in Place because of a domestic dispute on Willow Way. The Lyon County School District reported that none of its students were in harms way.

The Sheriff’s Office reports that a man is barricaded in an apartment on Willow Way and the schools were placed on lockdown because they are within sight of the incident.

“It’s unconfirmed whether the subject has a weapon, but were not taking any chances,” Lyon County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Director Michael Carlson said. “He is contained to the apartment and not any threat to the folks around the area.”