5-Hour Standoff Ends with Bardonia Man Surrendering to Police

A nearly five-hour standoff between Clarkstown police and a distraught 26-year-old Bardonia man armed with a rifle ended peacefully late Thursday night with the man’s surrender after a family member and a police crisis negotiator finally got through to him on a cell phone.

Although one shot was fired from inside the house at 16 Ludvigh Road and police fired dozens of pepper spray rounds into the house, Clarkstown police Sgt. Glenn Cummings said no one was injured.

Cummings said Francis Bifulco, 26, came out of his parents’ home at about 9:25 p.m. Thursday and surrendered to police. Bifulco was arrested and taken to Nyack Hospital for medical and psychological evaluation, Cummings said.

“He has been taken into custody and the most important thing is everyone is safe,” said Cummings.

Cummings said any charges against Bifulco would be determined after he is evaluated. Early this morning, Cummings said Bifulco was still being evaluated.

The standoff, which began about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, turned a section of Ludvigh Road into an armed camp with police carrying rifles and other special weapons. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.

Throughout the evening, residents of the neighborhood could hear the loud bangs of Clarkstown police firing pepper spray into the house in an effort to force Bifulco out. Police were speculating that Bifulco was able to find a spot in the house where he could avoid the choking effects of the pepper spray.

Cummings said investigators did not yet know what prompted the incident or why Bifulco refused to leave the house for so long.

Call from family

The standoff began after Clarkstown police received a call at about 4:15 p.m. from a relative saying Bifulco had been threatening to take his own life and might have a gun at home. Cummings said police were briefly in contact with the Bifulco via text messages but that he then broke off communications with police.

Cummings said police assisted neighbors in evacuating for their safety and a security perimeter was established in the area. Clarkstown police brought in their hostage negotiating team and the tactical team — including an armored vehicle — as part of the effort to get the man out of the house.

Throughout the evening, police tried different methods of communication to reach Bifulco, including loudspeakers — urging Bifulco to come out and talk with police.

Cummings said pepper spray rounds were fired into the house starting around 6:45 p.m. in hopes of convincing the Bifulco to come out on his own. Police Capt. Michael Sullivan said his goal was to avoid having police officers storm the house — although they were prepared for that possibility.

At about 8:30 p.m., police said a shot had been fired from the house. Cummings said no one was struck by the bullet. Police responded with more pepper spray.

During the standoff, police could spot Bifulco as he moved to different sections of the house. At one point late in the standoff Bifulco was spotted going out a back door, but he quickly went back into the house.

Near the end of the standoff, Bifulco told police he would “shoot his way out.” However, Cummings said a family member and a negotiator were able to speak with Bifulco over a cell phone and convinced him to come out of the house and surrender.

The incident closed a section of Ludvigh Road, which is a busy local road that connects Route 304 in Bardonia to Middletown Road in Nanuet. Traffic was diverted at Pigeon Hill Road for more than five hours.

Because of the number of police and emergency vechicles in the area, and the traffic flowing through the area, there wasn't much room for local residents to gather to watch as police negotiated with Bifulco. Because Bifulco had a rifle, police kept a block-long area closed off.

Clarkstown police were assisted by a State Police K-9 unit and dozens of first-responders were on standby from the Nanuet Ambulance Corps, Rockland Paramedics and the Rockland County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The standoff lasted so long that weather conditions changed several times, with on-and-off rain and sleet.

As the standoff has continued, the scene attracted TV news crews and a news helicopter, which police ordered out of the area because it was interfering with their operations. Clarkstown police asked for a "no-fly" zone over the area.

Clarkstown police crime scene investigators are expected to be back at the home today to continue the probe into the standoff.