SIDNEY — Officers from the Sidney Police Department and the Sidney/Piqua Tactical Response Team police were called to a standoff Tuesday afternoon in downtown Sidney. It happened at a residence in the 300-block of South Walnut Avenue, beginning around 3:30 p.m. as a dispute between two female neighbors over a parking violation.
During the dispute, police were called to respond after a female made threats to shoot two individuals and employees of an organization. The female who made the threats went back into the residence and refused to come out after police arrived.
According to Police Chief Will Balling, Sidney Police has had several dealings with this individual and she has charges pending in court. Upon officers arrival, he said she refused to talk to them. With the assistance of a family member we were able to get a small boy, approximately 4 years old, out of the residence. The female in question refused to come out.
Due to the threats to shoot individuals and threat that she had went to get a gun, the SWAT team was called and staged at the scene.
Balling said the dispute between the neighbors has been ongoing for some time, and the community resource officer and officers from his department have responded to several calls involving the two individuals in the past, but this was the most serious incident to date.
“We continued to work to deescalate the incident through family members. Captain (Bill) Shoemaker was able to de-escalate it enough to talk with her on the porch. SWAT was not deployed and they left the scene,” Balling said.
The woman was holed up in the residence for about three hours while Shoemaker and a family member of the woman negotiated with her to come out peacefully, which she finally did just after 6 p.m. Balling said they were on scene until about 6:15 p.m. He credited Shoemaker for his efforts in deescalating the situation without the need for SWAT intervention.
After she surrendered, police spoke with the woman to ensure the safety of all involved, but she was not taken into custody.
However, in a separate incident, Alicia Irene Hull, 35, of Sidney, who arrived on the scene within the first 20 minutes, refused to exit the perimeter of the scene and then struck a police officer in the head while being escorted from the incident safety area. She was arrested and is charged with assault on a police officer.
Balling said no one was injured in the incident.
Deputies from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office also responded to help with traffic.
“Overall, I’m glad we were able to de-escalate the situation and not have to deploy the SWAT team,” Balling said.
