Garfield standoff ends in arrest
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
GARFIELD - Hours after a standoff began on a quiet dirt road in Garfield, it ended with the arrest of a 29-year-old Garfield man. Mark Lee Wright was taken into custody about 7 p.m. Tuesday after holding Benton County Sheriff's Office deputies at bay for three hours.
Shortly before 4 p. m., the Sheriff's Office was notified that a man had told a woman at the residence to take a child, who was also there, and leave the residence - that he was going to shoot himself, BCSO Maj. Gene Drake said. Deputies responded to the residence at ™85 N. Wimpy Jones Road. They stopped traffic along the dirt road as it wound north from U. S. Highway 62.
Drake said a shot was fired, but it was unknown whether it was into the air or ground. After talking through a publicaddress system to the resident without response, deputies fired two canisters of tear gas into the house.
Wright exited the house onto the porch but refused to obey instructions and was tasered, Drake said, before being taken into custody.
Some residents from the area were unable to return to their homes until the incident was resolved.
Brad Fortner, whose home lies about a quarter of a mile from the Wright residence, said he was stopped by deputies about 6 p.m. on his way home from work. He said he was able to reach his house by traveling Wimpy Jones Road from the other direction.
"We heard them talking to him," he said, referring to the public address system SWAT members were using to contact Wright.
Fortner said he and his wife had noticed the increased traffic and county deputies along the road.
Wright was charged with aggravated assault, a class D felony.
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