Four-Day Standoff in Wyoming Ends
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Four-Day Standoff in Wyoming Ends
RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) -- A four-day standoff ended Thursday night when a
rescue
squad smashed through a sliding glass door and tackled the father of
four
children he had held hostage.
Eric DeMillard, 42, was armed with a pistol. Police tackled him as he
ran down
a hallway. They wrestled the gun away and no shots were fired, police
Chief
Tony Rose said.
Two of the DeMillard's sons, 9 and 6, were being examined at a local
hospital.
They were feeling well enough to talk with officers soon after the
ordeal
ended, police said.
DeMillard had barged into his estranged wife's home Sunday night after
the two
had an argument, authorities said. Novetta DeMillard fled and called
police.
The two are separated and battling for custody of the children.
DeMillard freed an 8-year-old son Thursday afternoon and his 2-year-old
daughter on Wednesday after police assured him she would not be placed
in a
foster home.
AP-NY-03-12-99
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Police storm gunman to end Rawlins standoff
3/12/99
RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) - A four-day standoff ended Thursday night when a
rescue
squad smashed through a sliding glass door and tackled the father of
four
children he had held hostage.
Eric DeMillard, 42, was armed with a pistol. Police tackled him as he
ran down
a hallway. They wrestled the gun away and no shots were fired, Police
Chief
Tony Rose said.
Two of the man's sons, 9 and 6, were with him when the standoff ended.
They
were being examined at a local hospital. They were feeling well enough
to talk
with officers soon after the ordeal ended at about 8 p.m., according to
police.
DeMillard originally held all four children hostage when the ordeal
started
Sunday. He freed an 8-year-old son at 12:15 p.m. Thursday. The boy, who
was
reported in good condition, carried a letter from DeMillard to his
attorney
outside.
On Wednesday, DeMillard released his 2-year-old daughter after police
assured
him she would not be placed in a foster home.
He barged into his estranged wife's home Sunday night after the two had
an
argument. Novetta DeMillard fled and called police. The two are
separated and
battling for custody of the children.
DeMillard never threatened the children or fired any shots but claimed
to have
a rifle and several handguns, said police in this community 150 miles
west of
Cheyenne.
Last month a judge revoked DeMillard's visitation and telephone rights,
saying
supervision was "not sufficient" to protect the children during their
father's
visits.
In July, DeMillard pleaded guilty to third-degree assault against his
8-year-old son and was sentenced to community service. He was ordered to
undergo a mental health evaluation, complete a parenting class and have
no
contact with his son.
In court records, DeMillard said he completed the parenting class three
days
before he took the children captive.
As the fourth day of the standoff went on, DeMillard became increasingly
despondent and authorities worried more about a murder-suicide,
according to
Rose.
Police had decided that morning to raid the house after dark if
negotiations
broke down. They assembled two rescue teams, one from the Carbon County
Sheriff's Department and the other made up of Green River police.
The Carbon County team used a small battering ram to break the glass
door while
the Green River team served as a distraction.
Rose said the raid was over within seconds.
"I was on the phone with the spotter. He says 'They're going in' and I
said
'What's happening?' and he says, 'He's in custody,' " Rose said.
Police had cut off the house's cable television, water and electricity.
They
provided bottled water and served a steak dinner from a local restaurant
one
night.
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The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news
wire:
Father in Rawlins standoff just finished parenting class
3/11/99
RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) - Eric DeMillard completed a parenting class under a
Colorado court order three days before he barged into his estranged
wife's
house and took his children hostage.
DeMillard has been holed up in the house with his children since Sunday
night.
He is armed but has not threatened the children or fired any shots. He
let one
of his four children free Wednesday.
Police say he is distraught over losing visitation rights during divorce
proceedings.
Court documents indicate DeMillard, 42, of Berthoud, Colo., believed his
marriage to Novetta DeMillard could be saved even though divorce
proceedings
were under way in Larimer County District Court in Fort Collins, Colo.
Motions filed by DeMillard, who served as his own attorney after two
lawyers
withdrew from the divorce case, show increasing frustration with rulings
against him in his attempt to regain child visitation rights.
Court documents also show DeMillard pleaded guilty to third-degree
assault last
July against his 8-year-old son. According to police records, DeMillard
was
arrested in Colorado after his wife reported that he hit their son in
the head
with a shoe, grabbed him by the arm and pushed him to the ground,
striking him
again in the forehead.
In a plea agreement, DeMillard was sentenced to 150 hours of community
service,
which was to begin this month. He was also ordered to undergo a mental
health
evaluation, successfully complete a parenting class, and have no contact
with
his son.
DeMillard included his March 4 certificate of completion of the "Parents
in
Control" program in a letter he sent to Larimer County District Judge
James
Hiatt a day later, renewing his request to be granted visitation rights.
He described himself as "personally delighted with the efficacy and
common
sense approach" of the parenting program and promised to follow its
guidelines.
Program officials could not be reached for comment.
On Feb. 22, DeMillard asked the judge to order both his wife and himself
into
marital counseling. The couple had been married from February 1988 to
April
1994, when they divorced. They remarried in December 1996 and were
legally
separated in June 1998.
DeMillard maintained the marriage was "not irretrievably broken and ...
can
indeed be saved."
But Hiatt said he did not have the authority to order marital
counseling. "The
most that a court may do, in some circumstances, is suggest it," the
judge
wrote on Feb. 24.
Court records also show that DeMillard was in the Albany County
Detention
Center at Laramie from August to October after he was found to be in
violation
of a protection order granted by Albany County Judge Robert Castor. Mrs.
DeMillard and her children lived briefly in a Laramie safehouse before
moving
to Rawlins.
DeMillard pleaded innocent by reason of mental illness or deficiency and
was
evaluated at the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston. He was found
competent to
stand trial, but under a March 4 plea agreement the charge was reduced
from
violating a protection order to criminal trespass.
During his stay at the Albany County jail, DeMillard filed five requests
for
mental health counseling, according to county court documents.
"I am a mentally disabled man. I do not know why I must do so much jail
time,"
he wrote. "I really am in need of counseling and mental health
treatment."
Mrs. DeMillard filed for divorce last year, and DeMillard filed for a
legal
separation.
In addition to seeking custody of their four children together,
DeMillard also
expressed his desire to adopt his 14-year-old stepdaughter.
The Larimer County District Court gave custody of the children to Mrs.
DeMillard, but awarded DeMillard supervised telephone and in-person
visits.
Last month both rights were suspended by District Court Magistrate
Cyhthia
Hartman, who wrote that it appears supervision "is not sufficient to
protect
the children" during their father's visits.
In a motion filed Feb. 20 to increase his visitations, DeMillard wrote,
"Why
would any court in this land arbitrarily take away from five children
their
loving and attentive and 100 percent devoted father?"
In court documents, DeMillard described himself as suffering from
"dissociative
disorder." He also described himself as "very, very poor" and told the
court he
ate at a soup kitchen four days a week.