One in custody, one dead; standoff over
State police troopers seek cover behind police cars following a chase that ended in an armed standoff in North Union Township Friday afternoon.
Jessica Phillips, 28, of Buckhannon, W.Va., was arraigned on various charges and is in prison in lieu of a $1 million bond. Phillips was charged with four counts of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, burglary, fleeing from police and other various charges. She was arraigned late today before Magisterial District Judge Joseph M. George Jr.
State police used an armored vehicle equipped with a battering ram to gain entry to a home on Center Ave in North Union Township where a suspect was hiding during a standoff Friday. The standoff occurred following a police chase.
State police look over a truck involved in a police chase Friday afternoon that ended in a standoff. The truck crashed into a home on North Gallatin Avenue Extension.
A state police trooper escorts an unidentified woman from her place of work during an armed standoff in North Union Township Friday afternoon.
Police surround a home on Center Avenue in North Union Township, where a man barricaded himself inside Friday.
State police monitor traffic on Brushwood Road Friday, as school buses take students from R.W. Clark Elementary School, which is about 1,000 feet from the scene of a standoff on Center Street in North Union Township.
A man is dead and a woman is in police custody after a standoff that lasted nearly 10 hours in North Union Township on Friday.
Donald Ray Brown, no age given, of West Virginia, was found dead when police finally entered the home at 216 Center Avenue where he had barricaded himself. The cause of death has not yet been released.
Brown’s alleged accomplice, Jessica Lynn Phillips, 28, of Buckhannon, W.Va., has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, three counts of reckless endangerment, fleeing or attempting to elude police and several other charges in connection with the police chase that led to the standoff.
Phillips was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Joseph M. George Jr. and is in Fayette County Prison in lieu of $1 million bond.
According to the criminal complaint, Department of Conservation of Natural Resources Ranger Kip Hursh called state police at around 11:45 a.m. requesting assistance in the area of Wheeler Bottom in Dunbar Township.
Hursh told police he found a suspicious male and female, allegedly Brown and Phillips, camping along the Youghiogheny River in a grey Ford F150 Raptor registered in West Virginia and a black utility-type trailer the two were apparently living in.
Hursh said he was initially contacted by Ohiopyle State Park Manager Jim Juran, who reported seeing a man and woman camping near the bike trail off Riverside Drive.
Police said Hursh investigated the scene and suspected the pair were producing or attempting to produce methamphetamine after finding propane tanks, plastic tubing and containers with an unknown clear liquid inside.
Hursh told police when he approached Brown and Phillips, they were “acting nervous”, according to the criminal complaint. He reportedly asked the two what they were doing, and they said they were homeless and had been there since Tuesday. Hursh said he got permission to look in the trailer and when he started to open the door, a call came over his radio that alerted them that state police were on the way to the scene.
Brown and Phillips then allegedly fled in the truck. Police said Hursh pursued the two but lost them.
State police Trooper Nathan Swink caught up with the truck in downtown Connellsville, police said, and followed the suspects along West Crawford Avenue, through Dunbar Township and onto Bute Road in North Union Township.
During the chase, police said someone in the truck fired approximately five shots at the pursuing officer.
Two state troopers attempted to block the roadway at Bute and Oliver Roads, but the driver continued on, nearly striking both fully marked and occupied police cars, police said.
When Brown and Phillips reached the intersection of Bute Road and North Gallatin Avenue, police said the truck failed to negotiate the left turn and crashed into a residence at 500 North Gallatin Avenue.
Buddy Marra, owner of Marras’s Mountaineer Shop just a few houses away from where the truck came to rest, said that he heard the crash from inside his store around noon.
Police secured a search warrant from Magisterial District Judge Wendy Dennis for the truck and found a shotgun and assault rifle inside. A search warrant was also issued for the area along the bike trail where the incident originated.
Police said a witness allegedly saw Brown and Phillips run to a nearby house belonging to Norma Sherlock at 216 Center Avenue, behind the scene of the crash. Police said they attempted reach Sherlock by phone but there was no answer.
Anna and Tom Gray, who also live on Center Avenue, said they were not certain, but they did not believe Sherlock was home when Brown and Phillips entered the home. They said they saw a woman come out of Sherlock’s home with her hands up, but the man remained inside.
For several hours, state police and tactical units surrounded Brown inside the house, attempting to coax him out.
“We know there’s a lot going on in your head right now,” police told Brown. “We want to help you.”
“Donald, if you can hear me, let me know you’re okay. Can you move the curtains?” police called.
A recording of Phillips pleading with Brown was also played. “Babe, it’s Jess,” she said. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. I love you.”
Flash grenades were detonated and still no response came from the house. Tactical vehicles moved in and broke windows, and waited.
Police communication into the house became more stern as time wore on. “Come on, Donald. You need to come out the front door right now,” police called. “You need to step up. Quit being stubborn and come outside.”
Some time after sunset, police sent two robotic vehicles to the front entrance of the house. After the robots attempted to open the door, a tactical truck with a long battering ram attached to the front approached. That truck then moved to the back, and another Bobcat-type vehicle with a battering ram also approached.
Shortly before 9 p.m., approximately eight officers entered the house. No shots were fired from within, and about five minutes later, the officers calmly exited, guns no longer drawn. An official from the Fayette County Coroner’s office later confirmed that Brown was dead.
Police blocked off Gallatin Avenue and Bute Road to all traffic Friday afternoon, and nearby Sensus Technologies had its employees on a lockdown. Police asked people in the homes surrounding the standoff to remain inside for safety.
The schools located closest to the incident — R.W. Clark Elementary and Laurel Highlands Middle School and Senior High School — were on lockdown as well until dismissal time.
Laurel Highlands School District Superintendent Jesse Wallace said because Clark was closest to the scene, it was the biggest concern when it was time to release students.
“Through state police and air surveillance, they determined a safe route for the kids to take,” Wallace said. Children were escorted by police to waiting parents and buses nearby, and all were out of the school before 4 p.m.
Students at LH middle and high schools who live in South Union Township were dismissed at the regular time, and those living in North Union Township in the vicinity of the standoff were held for parental pick up. Students whose parents could not pick them up were escorted to buses to be taken home when the police gave the school permission to do so.
Wallace lauded the Alert Now system, which delivers emergency messages to families in the school district.
“It worked great today,” he said. “Students and staff knew exactly what to do.”
Wallace also credited police for their help in keeping students safe Friday. “The level of support and cooperation from state police and Uniontown police was extraordinary.” He said Uniontown Police Chief Jason Cox did an excellent job of helping maintain calm through the situation.