FORT RITNER – Two people were arrested on Sunday, May 14th after Lawrence County deputies Brenten Trueblood and Bailey Duprey observed Casey Brown, 37, of Fort Ritner, outside of a residence in the 4000 of Fort Ritner Road.
Officers knew that Brown was wanted on an active Level 3 felony warrant for failure to appear on the original charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.
When the officers stopped, Brown disregarded verbal commands and took off running into a nearby barn. Brown barricaded himself in the barn, refused to exit, and threatened officers that he had an explosive device.
Both the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and the Bedford Police Department SWAT Team were activated and responded to the scene. Over the course of the next four-plus hours, officers attempted to negotiate with Brown to surrender, but he refused. Eventually, after deploying multiple tactics, including the utilization of chemical agents, SWAT officers entered the barn and took Brown into custody.
During the incident, Brown’s girlfriend, Wendy Stancombe, became very agitated and disorderly. She told officers multiple times that Brown had a bomb in the barn and would blow everyone up. Officers eventually arrested Stancombe on a charge of disorderly conduct after she continue to be belligerent and cause problems both on the scene and at a nearby residence.
Brown was transported to the hospital for evaluation, then incarcerated at the Lawrence County Jail for the warrant plus additional offenses of resisting law enforcement, intimidation, possession of a hoax device, and disorderly conduct.
Stancombe was incarcerated at the Lawrence County Jail for disorderly conduct.
