Richards is charged with obstructing official business, inducing panic and aggravated menacing. He is being held in the Butler County jail without bond.
The standoff started when police received a request from a woman for an escort into the home Sunday evening to retrieve personal property following a domestic dispute that had occurred in another part of the region, Herzog said.
An officer knocked on the door of the home, then banged on it, but received no response and no lights were on inside the residence, he said. The officer then announced his presence from outside and, using a key provided by the woman, entered the home and made additional announcements.
“The officer looked off to the side and noticed a subject standing there brandishing a firearm pointing it at the officer’s direction,” Herzog said. “As soon as the officer saw him, he retreated out the residence,” secured the woman and her infant child, cordoned off the area and requested additional units.
Contact was made with Richards, who would not exit the residence, and the SWAT team was called, he said.
Throughout the night, negotiators attempted to make contact with Richards, but were unsuccessful. No shots were fired at officers, but Richards made threats toward them throughout the standoff, Herzog said.
Police deployed a Hamilton County Police Association’s robot from its bomb unit to breach the front door of the residence. The camera on the bomb unit showed that Richards had “fortified his position” and barricaded himself behind the door with four weapons, including two rifles, a shotgun and a pistol, police said.
Police also shot “several chemical munitions” into the home overnight.
“It obviously had some effect but not enough that he surrendered at that time,” Herzog said.
He said over 20 West Chester police officers worked a nearly a 36-hour shift and were out in the intermittent rain all night during the incident, requiring the department to request supplemental manpower from the Hamilton-Fairfield Regional SWAT Team.
“We train with them and use similar tactics,” Herzog said.
Richards surrendered at 8:35 a.m., and was taken into custody without incident. No firearms were discharged and no one was injured.
Herzog said Richards did not have any prior arrests. He said police believe he legally obtained the firearms but that an investigation into that continues.
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