Standoff draws neighbors’ interest

HALFWAY — A man who was involved in a daylong standoff with FBI agents and local police near Oak Ridge Apartments was in federal custody and expected to appear this morning in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., an FBI spokeswoman said Thursday evening.

The FBI wouldn’t release the man’s name.

Baltimore FBI spokesman Richard Wolf said the arrest warrant for the man was connected to a “large, ongoing drug investigation” involving the Baltimore and Washington offices of the FBI.

Just before 5 p.m., a SWAT team entered the house at 17820 Greentree Terrace in Halfway, said Mark Colgan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Baltimore. Colgan was at the scene Thursday afternoon.

Shortly before team members entered the house, four loud bangs were heard at about 4:30 p.m. FBI agents dressed in paramilitary-type uniforms were seen outside the house at the same time.

Neither the man who had been in the house nor the FBI agents were injured, Colgan said, and none of the homes in the neighborhood was damaged.

Wolf would not release the number of FBI agents at the scene and would not offer details about the methods used to take the man into custody.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department and Maryland State Police were on the scene Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a voice on a bullhorn could be heard pleading with someone inside the house to pick up the telephone and talk to authorities.

“Pick up the phone so we can talk,” the voice said. “Just pick up the phone and start talking.”

FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said only the man taken into custody was in the home when officers entered the residence. Other people had been in the home earlier in the day, but had left. The FBI had not requested they leave, she said.

Wolf said the FBI had been at the site since 6:30 a.m.

By early afternoon, deputies with shotguns could be seen in a woods line behind a house. Two deputies with long weapons were visible, along with a person dressed in all green attire crouched behind a rock break, witnesses said.

Other officers in fatigues could be seen in the area of the house.

Shortly before 3 p.m., several SUVs with tinted windows drove up, all with either Washington, D.C., or Virginia tags.

A firetruck and ambulance from the Halfway Volunteer Fire Co. arrived at about 3:30 p.m. and a Maryland State Police helicopter circled overhead shortly afterward. Officers were seen taking rifles out of an SUV a little before that.

Fire personnel were seen in full gear with oxygen tanks on their backs and fire police had blocked off Oak Valley Drive at Greentree Lane.

A playground at Oak Ridge Apartments was off limits.

Parents of children at schools on bus routes affected by the barricade situation were informed by telephone Thursday afternoon.

Richard Wright, spokesman for Washington County Public Schools, said students from Lincolnshire Elementary, Springfield Middle and Williamsport High schools who live in the affected area would temporarily be held at their home schools.

Around 2:30 p.m., an Allegheny Power truck was seen entering the neighborhood. Todd Meyers, Allegheny Power spokesman, confirmed workers were there to cut power to that house and three others in the neighborhood that share the same power source.

Uniformed FBI agents could be seen going into neighboring homes. Other agents were wearing what appeared to be Kevlar helmets.

Just after 2:30 p.m., a Domino’s delivery vehicle arrived and was directed beyond the perimeter by a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy.

He was delivering 12 pizzas: four sausage, four pepperoni and four cheese, the delivery person said. Also included in the order was Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola and Coke Zero, he said.