U Of M Hotel Standoff Over, Suspect In Custody
MINNEAPOLIS (AP/WCCO) -- Police have identified the suspect who was arrested unharmed after a 38-hour standoff in a hotel room at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
A police spokesman names him as 38-year-old Rashad Bowman, of the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury.
The standoff began early Monday. Police say officers went to the Graduate Hotel to do a welfare check at the request of Bowman's relatives and to try to arrest him on a felony warrant for a non-violent, "white-collar crime" out of Maricopa County, Arizona.
University Police Chief Matt Clark says a SWAT team used a battering ram to enter the man's room Tuesday afternoon after chemical irritants and flash grenades failed to flush him out.
He says officers moved in after Bowman, who claimed to be armed, started setting small fires.
Authorities say it is unclear if Bowman was armed. He didn't have a weapon on himself at the time of his arrest, and the hotel room is still being processed.
Authorities went into action after he threatened to burn down the hotel. He did start lighting fires inside his room, and verbally threatened to hurt officers with his gun. Family of Bowman warned authorities that his gun was missing.
Bowman had also threatened to kill himself and others.
Authorities say it's not known what the relationship is with the woman who was in his room, but freed Monday night. Officials say the hotel room where Bowman stayed needs extensive clean-up for chemical irritants.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)