Watch Dallas Police Robot Flush Out Suspect in 6-Hour Culvert Standoff

By Jamie Landers, Aria Jones

Source The Dallas Morning News

A man was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after a six-hour standoff in a drainage culvert near a southeastern Dallas golf course.

Police said Kevin Knowles, 31, was apprehended about 4 p.m. but did not say what charges he faced. He was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, but police said he was not injured and was taken to a hospital as a precaution. It was unclear whether he has an attorney.

Helicopter footage from KDFW-TV ( Channel 4) shows a police robot rolling toward a culvert and deploying gas. The man inside initially retreats before running out of the culvert and flailing on the ground. About a minute later, four officers take him into custody.

The incident began just after 10 a.m., when officers were behind a car with stolen plates in the 500 block of North St. Augustine Road in Pleasant Grove and a helicopter was called to assist them, police said.

When the car crashed near Bruton and North Jim Miller roads, a man got out and ran into a wooded area, and at one point fired shots, police said.

Police tweeted about the incident about two hours later, referring to it as an “active police investigation” in the 2300 block of North Jim Miller Road. Authorities blocked off the intersection of Jim Miller and Bruton and advised motorists to take alternate routes.

A heavy police presence could be seen near Keeton Park Golf Course throughout the afternoon, including more than two dozen squad cars, SWAT officers and Dallas Fire-Rescue units. Police deployed several flash-bangs during the standoff.

Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said during the negotiations that officers were “doing everything we can to make sure it ends peacefully.” She would not say what tactics or techniques were being used, and would not confirm whether shots were fired at officers or golfers.

Ty Martinez, head golf professional at Keeton Park, said the traffic accident was parallel to Hole 4, where two men, regulars of the course, were playing.

A man the pair believed was injured in the crash went onto the course asking for help, according to Martinez. He then fired a weapon — missing the golfers — took a golf cart and drove toward the entrance of the course, Martinez said.

”He wasn’t aware there was a creek, and I’m assuming he got stuck, jumped out of the golf cart and now he’s in the drainage ditch,” Martinez said early in the afternoon. “This is usually a very quiet and safe place to be, but today has been unlike any other in my 15 years here.”

Just before 4:30 p.m., the ambulance drove away from the course. About 30 golfers who had been stuck inside the park were then able to leave.

Martinez said a few officers stayed inside the course to ensure the safety of the cooped-up golfers as the standoff ensued.

No one was injured in the incident, police said.

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