Then there's this...
Picking up the pieces after 10-hour 'standoff'
By Mehul Srivastava
Dayton Daily News
RIVERSIDE | Riley had a bird's eye view of all the excitement, but he ain't talking. If anything, he seems upset.
"Hasn't said a word all morning," Leslee Thomas said Wednesday, his eyes a little watery from the tear gas that still stinks up his house, his back hurting from having spent the night on a metal two-seat swing on his porch.
It was nearly 2 a.m. Wednesday before Thomas, 74, was able to get back inside his house on Dawes Avenue and check on Riley. Tear gas canisters littered the floor, and the smashed windows let in the lights from the police cars outside. The suspects, if they ever were in the house, were probably watching on TV somewhere. But Riverside police didn't know this until after a SWAT team stormed Thomas' house, ending a 10-hour drama that unfolded live on TV.
Nearly 40 police officers sweltered in the sun for four hours, then squinted in the dark for another six.
The standoff that began as a hostage situation ended as a one-sided affair, with one well-trained and well-armed SWAT team versus one foul-mouthed 6-year-old Amazon Blue Fronted parrot named Riley.
What a standoff it was — TV trucks parked in the neighbor's yard, nearly a mile of yellow tape to hold back the gawking crowd, fire trucks and armored SWAT vehicles. Officers with radios squawking made plans to storm the house, pointing furiously at blueprints, chastising a TV reporter who reported the plan on air.
It started about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, when Riverside police Detective Kolbey Watson was sent to the house to pick up Anthony Sigmon. Sigmon was suspected of having shot his girlfriend, Amber Greer, in the neck the night before — a shooting she told police was an accident. Greer had spent the night at Thomas' house. They were friends, Thomas said, and she often slept on his couch. The morning after she was shot, Greer came back to the house, and Sigmon, still wanted for questioning by police, also came by.
About 1 p.m., Thomas said he dropped them off nearby, on his way to a hospital. He also said he distinctly remembers locking the door with Riley in the house.
When Watson arrived, his informer had warned him that Sigmon was inside and armed. Watson remembers calling Sigmon's cell phone and hearing him say, "I am not coming out. If you want me, you have to come and get me."
After the standoff, Watson said he felt sure that during the conversation Sigmon was nearby if not in the house.
"He knew how many of us were in the car, and he heard our conversations," Watson said.
Nevertheless, by the time the SWAT teams had the house surrounded, everybody was convinced Sigmon and Greer were inside.
Riley must have been surprised. His limited vocabulary of "get out," "come on in," "hello" and a choice expletive wasn't much help. As he squawked and shook the curtains near his cage, the SWAT team hid behind an armored vehicle to approach the house.
Dayton police Sgt. Frank Navarre, a trained hostage negotiator, used a cell phone to speak to Sigmon. Sigmon said he wasn't in the house, according to Riverside police Sgt. David Crigler, but police dismissed that as a ruse. The standoff continued with flash-bang grenades and tear gas.
By now, Thomas' house was in disarray — his windows smashed, his walls pock-marked and stained purple where the tear-gas canisters hit. A little after midnight, police rushed the house, finding only the parrot. As neighbors strained to see the action, the SWAT teams packed up and left.
"The information that we had at the time (when Detective Watson arrived) fully indicated that the suspect was in the house," Crigler said after the standoff, "Unfortunately that turned out not to be true. But we are glad that we took all possible precautions, and that nobody was hurt."
Less than five hours later, Riverside police arrested Sigmon at a house on Harshman Road.
On Wednesday afternoon, Thomas' windows were boarded, and he said the city had offered to pay for repairs. Riley was still upset, staring out of the broken window near his cage.
Just damn. Hope the birdy is okay.
And here's another.
The Squirrel Grenade
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1060580/posts?page=1
Watson remembers calling Sigmon's cell phone and hearing him say, "I am not coming out. If you want me, you have to come and get me." After the standoff, Watson said he felt sure that during the conversation Sigmon was nearby if not in the house.
Uh huh. LOL! Come here, Watson.