14 DAY TRIAL // A child has been used as a human shield in a police standoff in Estacada, Oregon, officials report.
On Sunday, April 21, a man chased by officers following a robbery used his own 7-month-old son to fend off police.
Law enforcement officials headed to 400 block of Clackamas Way in Estacada in search for suspect Raleigh Reynolds on Sunday.
According to KPTV, while officers were trying to enter the residence, the man ran out in an effort to evade arrest. He jumped over a fence and entered the home of his sister, which neighbors his.
He was asked to give himself up repeatedly, and attempted to escape on several occasions. Noticing that he was surrounded, he eventually came out holding up the infant.
Officials believed that the man was armed at the time, the Christian Post adds. He used the child to protect himself as he negotiated with law enforcement.
The standoff ended when he agreed to hand over the child, who escaped the incident unscathed.
Reynolds has been arrested and placed in the Clackamas County Jail, and a search has revealed that he had no weapons on him. The baby has been left with the man's relatives, who live nearby and have watched the scene.
He has been charged with burglary, resisting arrest while obstructing governmental administration and endangering the welfare of a minor. Neither the suspect nor the arresting officers have been injured in the standoff.
“I think it's terrible to put kids in the middle of a situation. [...] I'm glad he wasn't hurt and that no one else got hurt,” neighbor Loretta Hammonds comments.
Reynolds was also arrested on drug charges in March, when a woman called 911 not realizing that she was dialing, leading police to a sale in progress.
“K, well I got 40 on me, so, but only if you're [inaudible] the product. [...] The good stuff? Is it from the same people I'm trying to get a hold of? I can't even get a hold of their hookup. That's the problem,” a transcript of the call reads.