Man Involved in Standoff Charged

police on Thursday charged the man who caused a five-hour standoff with simple assault, harassment and making terroristic threats following the Wednesday incident.

The criminal complaint filed by police against Lawrence Joseph Warabow, 59, of 1206 First St., stated he was “disoriented, his clothes were a mess” and that firearms -- one loaded – were discovered when he was taken into custody.

After that, the complaint indicates, Warabow was taken to Washington Hospital’s psychiatric ward, where he was involuntarily committed by Washington County Mental Health officials.

Court paperwork filed with District Judge David Mark indicates he was to be hospitalized there for five days.

Police were called to the First Street home where Warabow lives with his mother, Dorothy Warabow, around 10 a.m. on Wednesday after case workers for both county protective services and mental health services said he became agitated.

The complaint said the caseworkers told a dispatcher that the man had “just threatened to kill them, then grabbed one of (the women), and then chased them out of the house and locked the door.”

The representatives were there to help Dorothy Warabow involuntarily commit her son to a psychatric ward after protective services caseworker had visited the home on Tuesday. During the check in on Dorothy, the caseworker noted the man was angry and lived in a basement apartment that was “filthy and full of urine.”

When Canonsburg police arrived, officers attempted to make contact for hours through telephone calls and the public address system before requesting assistance from Washington Regional SWAT.

That team then arrived and shut down state Route 980 from Columbia Drive to Valley Road, rerouting Canon-McMillan School District buses; placed First Street Elementary School on lockdown; and evacuated several of Warabow’s neighbors.