Police arrest Columbia standoff suspect
Police arrested the suspect in a standoff at a duplex in northwest Columbia early Friday afternoon.
Columbia Police Department spokesman Jeff Pitts said police had been negotiating with Timothy Rottet, 26, to get Rottet out of a duplex on Zinnia Drive. Rottet has an arrest warrant for probation or parole violation for assault and dangerous weapons, Pitts said. Police will also ask prosecutors to file felony domestic assault charges in Friday’s incident.
No one was injured and police did not have to use force to end the standoff, Pitts said. It wasn’t clear whether any weapons were in the duplex, and Pitts said SWAT members were searching the residence after the standoff.
LIVE REPLAY: An interview with a police spokesman is embedded in the player below.
Pitts said officers were sent to a domestic disturbance a little before 8 a.m. on Zinnia Drive and a SWAT team was called in. Police used crisis negotiation tactics to get Rottet out of the duplex, Pitts said.
A woman who had been in the duplex had minor injuries but was out of the residence, he said.
Streaming video of an earlier live interview with a police department spokesman is available below.
Police were still talking to Rottet at about 11 a.m., and a police armored personnel carrier known as a Bearcat was at the scene.
Officers were using non-lethal rounds to shoot out the windows to gain access to the duplex. Pitts later said they broke open the windows to toss a phone inside to communicate with Rottet.
Police did not release other details Friday morning. Check back for more on this developing story.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Live streaming video from the scene was taken down at the request of the Columbia Police Department, citing officer safety. The spelling of the suspect’s last name has also been corrected.
