By Jake Palmateer
BAINBRIDGE _ A three-hour standoff between a barricaded domestic-violence suspect and police ended peacefully Thursday morning with the man's surrender.
Michael D. Richardson, 33, of Johnson Street, allegedly shut himself into his apartment with his wife and refused to come out.
Chenango County 911 received a call from a relative of the woman at 8:21 a.m. indicating she was being held against her will in the apartment and that weapons might be involved, said state police Capt. James E. Barnes of the Troop C Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
State police, Bainbridge police and Chenango County sheriff's deputies formed a perimeter around the apartment building. A state police sharpshooter clad in camouflage was seen on the roof of The Family Dollar, which is diagonally across the street from the apartment building. Uniformed troopers with AR-15 rifles and short-barreled shotguns trained their weapons on the apartment.
"It was reported to us that there were weapons in the home," Barnes said.
A state police Crisis Intervention Team and the Special Response Team, a tactical unit, were called to the scene, Barnes said.
He said troopers from the Crisis Intervention Team talked to Richardson during the standoff by phone and eventually convinced him to come out.
The couple emerged from the apartment at 11:40 a.m.
No shots were fired by police or the man, who was not believed to have wielded any weapons during the standoff, Barnes said.
The woman suffered unspecified injuries sustained in an assault that occurred at some point that morning, according to Barnes.
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Troopers did not identify the woman, however neighbors said she was Richardson's wife.
Richardson was charged with second-degree assault, a felony.
There were no children in the home during the standoff, according to troopers. Neighbors reported children had left the home several hours before the 911 call.
"The police are familiar with that address, and there have been other events," Barnes said.
The man was charged with criminal mischief about two weeks ago by Bainbridge police, according to troopers.
For that charge, Richardson was released on $2,000 bail Dec. 3, according to Chenango County jail officials.
There were no widespread evacuations around the apartment, but the high school, middle school and elementary school in Bainbridge went into a "lock-out" status after the activity on Johnson Street was observed, according to Bainbridge-Guilford Superintendent Karl Brown.
Exterior doors were locked and windows were covered, but students were allowed to move around in the buildings until the lock-out was lifted at around noon, Brown said.
State Route 7 and some side streets were closed during the standoff.
Richardson was arraigned before Bainbridge Town Justice Steven W. Klugh and sent back to Chenango County jail on $50,000 to await further court action.
