WATERVLIET TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — An hourslong standoff in Berrien County came to an end Friday evening after the suspect was subdued by police.
Authorities say around 4:45 p.m. they received a call from a 43-year-old Watervliet Township woman asking for police to check her home on the 5400 block of Forest Beach Road, north of Paw Paw Avenue near Watervliet.
Authorities say the woman felt her boyfriend, 35-year-old Joshua Peterson, who had warrants out for his arrest, may have been hiding there.
Deputies say while they were searching the home, Petersen had barricaded himself in a bedroom where he claimed to have a firearm.
According to police he threatened to shoot anyone who entered the bedroom.
Berrien County deputies, supported by troopers, and officers from other various agencies secured the area and spent the next five hours in intense negotiations with Petersen, trying to get him to surrender peacefully.
Deputies say when the negotiations failed, they entered the bedroom and with the help of a police canine and other “less lethal” devices, they subdued Petersen and took him into custody.