Hartland Resident Witnesses Part of Standoff from Driveway

After Jeffrey Williamson’s sixth-grade son told him about an unfamiliar man walking strangely in their Hartland neighborhood Thursday, he decided to investigate.

It’s a curiosity he plans on not quenching if there is ever a next time.

Once outside, Williamson, 39, said the man said something about looking for a car and then the police showed up en masse.

“He pulled out a gun and pointed it at himself,” he said. “He was acting erratically. As I got to the driveway, he exited the vehicle and ran down the road (toward police).”

As this was happening, Williamson said the man told him he had no problem with him and told him to get back in the house.

“It was kind of scary and not something you would expect in a quiet neighborhood and I hope it never happens again,” he said.

Inside, meantime, his wife Andrea, was busy calling 911. The operator told her help would soon be arriving to their Hartland Hills Drive neighborhood.

“I was scared,” she said. “I was hoping it would end because it was getting dark soon.”

The man, whom police identified as 48-year-old Stephen Wethy, would soon retreat into a nearby yard where he surrendered to police some 35 minutes later. His arrest followed high-speed chase from Waterford Township where Wethy ran after he allegedly shot at his wife during a domestic dispute, according to police. The wife was not injured.

“The police did a fantastic job,” Williamson said. “They talked him down.”

Other neighbors, too, praised law enforcement for their quick action and calls made to homes to warn residents of the threat and stayed inside.

“If the police were walking around with shot guns and guns, we didn’t need to be out there,” said Hartland resident Robert Wozniak. “They were amazing.”

For a related story that focused on the chase itself, click here.