THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250060
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
A 2 1/2-hour standoff between a police SWAT team and an angry man ended peacefully Saturday afternoon.
Francis D. Fitzgerald, 33, left his house at 3913 Rumford Lane through a rear door shortly before 1 p.m. He was charged with simple assault and disturbing the peace.
Police spokesman Lou Thurston said police were called to a domestic disturbance about 8:50 a.m. in the Thalia section of Virginia Beach. Police tried to talk to Fitzgerald without success, so negotiators and the SWAT team were summoned around 10:25 a.m.
About an hour before Fitzgerald left the home, his 13-year-old son came out. Thurston said it was unclear whether the boy refused to come out earlier or was prevented from leaving. His mother and sister had left the house several hours earlier.
Side streets were blocked during the standoff, but teenagers and older neighbors gathered to watch police outfitted with riot gear and police dogs.
Police said no one was injured but that Fitzgerald had damaged the inside of the house. They also said that he may have been armed with a kitchen knife.
Fitzgerald was taken before a magistrate and released on bond to naval authorities.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT ARREST by CNB