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An Eagle Mountain neighborhood experienced widespread disruption on Thursday when a man barricaded himself in his home.
The four-and-a-half-hour standoff with a Utah County SWAT team began at 10:20 a.m. when deputies received a third-party call about a domestic disturbance at 6902 N. Cherokee Road. The suspect, Matthew Paul Graham, 34, was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of making a terroristic threat and domestic violence in the presence of a child. When a deputy arrived at the scene, Graham -- acting nervous -- answered the door, opening it only slightly. Lt. Darren Gilbert of the Utah County Sheriff's Office characterized Graham as evasive. When asked if firearms were present in the house, Graham told the deputy "That's for you to find out," according to Gilbert. The deputy then asked to speak to Graham's wife and four kids, who left the home with the deputy "within 15 seconds," of coming to the door, Gilbert said. He then barricaded himself in the house, and the SWAT team was called. The wife told deputies that her husband, who had been in the military, had been armed during his conversation at the door with the deputy and that "numerous" firearms were in the house. Graham then negotiated with deputies on and off for hours, at one point asking for a letter, which deputies obtained and read to him over the phone. Gilbert would not say who the letter was from or what it was about. According to KSL, the man called the station during the standoff and said he wanted a signed letter from a judge saying he wouldn't be charged with anything, that the police couldn't come into his house, and that he wouldn't be taken to jail. The man claimed to have served two tours in Iraq, and admitted he was armed but said he had not threatened anyone, and said he was familiar with police negotiations tactics. "I talked to them until I got blue in the face and I got sick of talking to them because I spent enough [sic] in the military and I know exactly what they're doing, and it's a waste of time," KSL.com quotes the man as saying. "All I need is the letter and I will walk out." At one point the Utah National Guard arrived at the scene, though Gilbert said they were not involved in negotiations. About 3 p.m. Graham gave himself up "after taking his time putting his weapons away," Gilbert said. The man walked out the front door of the home of his own volition. It was not believed that drugs or alcohol played a part in the stand-off, Gilbert said. He also confirmed that deputies had been to the house several times before on domestic disruption issues. At one point there were reports at the scene that the man was watching live coverage of his home on television and becoming agitated. Gilbert said deputies were grateful the man eventually gave himself up peacefully. One evacuated neighbor, Cyndi Stueben, told the Daily Herald that she and her family had become friends with the family in question, even boating with them, but over time had become more and more concerned about the family and decided not to let their kids spend time at the house. The husband involved in the stand-off showed off his collection of weapons to the neighbors, and the family became alarmed when the husband said he left his guns and ammunition unlocked and visible around the home so his children would not be afraid of them. The family's car had recently been repossessed, said several neighbors, and one of the family's children is ill and needs regular treatments, adding strain to the situation. Several neighbors said the man had served in Iraq and had come home with mental problems because of the experience. The event disrupted life for hundreds of residents of the Kiowa Valley neighborhood. At least two dozen homes were evacuated by SWAT team members, and residents who were not able to leave immediately were told to hunker down in their basements, out of the range of potential gunfire, which never happened. At least a half-dozen families and about a dozen children spent a couple hours in a nearby church before being taken to a neighbor's home. Pony Express Elementary School, which was a mile from the scene, was put under restrictive release, meaning all parents were called and no children were allowed to walk home. Willow Creek Middle School was also contacted because a bus was scheduled to drop off students within the evacuated area around the home where the stand-off was happening. Stueben said she was planning to move because she felt the neighborhood was no longer safe for her children. |
