Pepper Spray Deployed In Domestic Violence Standoff: Police

WAUKESHA, WI -- A domestic violence suspect was arrested early Monday morning on Wisconsin Ave., but not before police evacuated the apartment where the incident took place and several nearby homes as a precaution, according to Waukesha police.

Officers initially responded to a multi-family apartment complex on the 400 block of Wisconsin Ave. just before 11 p.m. on Sunday after a woman called the police, saying that her mother's boyfriend had been battering her, according to police reports.

Waukesha police said there had been a history of domestic violence, and that the boyfriend was known to be extremely violent, and used weapons against his victims in the past.

When police arrived on the scene late Sunday, a woman exited the apartment and made it to safety with officers who were standing by. Officers who were there reported that the woman had obvious injuries.

Police said the man accused of abusing the woman refused to exit the apartment. Officers negotiated with him for several hours to surrender, police said.

As a precaution, police said they went door-to-door in the neighborhood and in the apartment, issuing evacuation orders as a safety precaution. Those who safely evacuated their homes were escorted to a Waukesha Metro Transit Bus that police requested to temporarily house displaced neighborhood residence.

When negotiations with the man weren't proving to bring the standoff to a conclusion, police said that a form of pepper spray at just after 4:30 a.m. It wasn't too much later that the man came out of the residence and was taken into custody without incident, police said. No officers, citizens or the suspect were injured.

The man is currently being held in the Waukesha County Jail where he is awaiting potential charges.

With October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, authorities in Waukesha are encouraging those who are victims of domestic violence or know someone who is suffering from these acts to reach out to organizations like the Women’s Center to assist in advocating for them. For more information, go to www.twcwaukesha.org

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