BY Sarah smith
ssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.com
A call for medical help turned into a five-hour hostage situation in Beltrami County early Sunday.
According to Beltrami County authorities, a man called at 6:30 a.m. requesting assistance with what was believed to be a medical situation.
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When officers arrived at his home, they were told by a girlfriend that he’d been sleep-deprived due to Lyme disease.
The woman was asked to leave the residence to allow the make to sleep.
Four hours later the man called back “talking gibberish,” the sheriff’s office indicated, “and was not making sense.”
The girlfriend had returned to the residence and was not being allowed to leave.
The sheriff’s department said the man was making threats against the woman.
A perimeter was established and after five hours of negotiations, the man surrendered his Derringer pistol.
The woman climbed out a second story window and escaped using a fire ladder, authorities said. The man was eventually taken to Sanford Emergency Room in Bemidji for a psychological evaluation.
Numerous regional agencies were pressed into service, then called off after the situation had been resolved.
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Included in those agencies was the Hubbard-Wadena SWAT team.
No charges had been filed as of Monday morning,
