January 19, 2015
A 40-year-old man has been charged with breaching a domestic violence order and two counts of assaulting and obstructing police following a 23-hour siege in Kingaroy last week.
Acting Senior Sergeant Brent Gerber, from Kingaroy Police, said police were called to a disturbance in a house in Haly Street about 10:00pm on Thursday.
Police will allege that when they arrived, a man – who was wanted on a return-to-prison warrant for allegedly breaching parole – became aggressive towards the officers, forcing them to use capsicum spray and a taser, but with no effect.
The man then allegedly obtained a knife and threatened to harm himself if police approached. He also allegedly told police he had a firearm and would empty a gas bottle and cause an explosion.
Police decided to withdraw and established a cordon around the area.
An emergency situation was declared under the Public Safety Preservation Act at 3:40am.
A SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) squad and Bearcat vehicle were despatched from Brisbane as well as special police negotiators.
The Bearcat was used to drop a mobile phone to the man so he could speak to police.
A fire truck was also stationed near the house and Ergon Energy cut off the power.
Acting Snr Sgt Gerber said the man eventually surrendered just before 9:00pm on Friday after being offered a cigarette. No firearms or drugs were found at the scene.
It will be alleged the man had previously been involved in a 17-hour siege with police.
Kingaroy police were today still counting the cost of the incident which racked up at least 60 hours overtime for uniformed police, 30 hours overtime for detectives plus the rotation of two SERT teams and three teams of police negotiators.
- Related article: Haly Street Incident Ends Peacefully
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A man has been charged with possessing a knife in a public place and obstructing police after an incident which allegedly occurred on the cordon around the siege area.
Acting Snr Sgt Gerber said it would be alleged the man was heavily intoxicated and began harrassing the SES volunteers who were blocking the street.
The man – who blew 0.244 BAC after he was arrested – wanted to get through, saying he could end the siege by himself.
