EAST HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) -
East Hartford police said the suspect in a standoff that lasted more than five hours has surrendered.
Officers were called to the Higbie Drive home just after midnight by Louis Garcia's girlfriend. When they arrived, they said Garcia told them he had a grenade, and they immediately got neighbors away from the home.
"He just wanted us to go away," said Lt. Ricardo Soto of the East Hartford Police Department. "We talked to him several times. He continued to hang up on us. He just kept saying, 'Go away,' but obviously we couldn't do that."
Police brought in a bus for those residents who were removed from their homes and asked the rest of the neighbors to stay inside.
"We took our kids and our animals and got out of the house," said neighbor Kristy Brown. "We stood on the corner for a while and the police told us to back up. So we backed up."
Police said they used a lot of different tactics with Garcia.
Police said they finally launched gas canisters into the home to get him to surrender.
Right after 5 a.m., he did just that.
Garcia was arrested and charged with:
- Strangulation
- Threatening
- Assault
- Disorderly conduct
He's being held on $60,000 bond and will appear in court on Friday.
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