OTTUMWA, IOWA -- UPDATED - The Wednesday evening stand-off on North Hancock Street has led to the arrest of one man.
Keith Edward Hewitt, 26, of Ottumwa was arrested on warrants charging him with Driving While Barred, Prevention of Apprehension, and Harassment of a Public Official.
Hewitt was also charged with an additional count of Interference with Official Acts. Hewitt is being held in the Wapello County Jail on $4600 bond.
Ottumwa Police Lt. Tom McAndrew did make one correction to information he released Wednesday night on the stand-off situation.
On Wednesday, McAndrew told KTVO police believed there was a second suspect in the house who was wanted on warrants. That turned out to be incorrect.
However, during a second search of the house, officers did seize property believed to have been stolen in a burglary earlier in the week. The investigation is on-going and McAndrew says additional arrests may be forthcoming.
Below is the complete press release
On Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 1:17 pm, the Ottumwa Police Department received a call of a fire at 337 North Hancock Street in Ottumwa. It was determined a small grass fire had occurred in the back yard of the residence.
A disoriented female and a shotgun were found in a small garage behind the residence. Based upon items observed at the residence, officers established a perimeter around the property and obtained a search warrant for the residence.
At approximately 3:59 pm, a subject attempted to escape from the residence. After a short foot pursuit, the subject identified as Keith Edward Hewitt, age 26, of Ottumwa was arrested on warrants charging him with Driving While Barred, Prevention of Apprehension, and Harassment of a Public Official. Hewitt was also charged with an additional count of Interference with Official Acts. Hewitt is being held in the Wapello County Jail on $4600 bond.
At or about 8:00 pm, members of the Ottumwa Emergency Response Team executed the search warrant at the residence which was found to be unoccupied. Based upon officers observations made during the execution of the search warrant, a second search warrant was obtained and executed at the property. The search of the property was completed at 2:30 am. Officers seized property which had been reported stolen during a burglary in rural Wapello County the previous day. The investigation is on-going and further arrests are pending.
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Law Enforcement blocked of the better part of North Hancock Street in Ottumwa Wednesday evening.Police say that the Ottumwa Fire Department was called to a residence on Hancock to serve a medical call Wednesday morning, when they arrived, they found a disoriented female, and a weapon on the property.
The fire department contacted the Ottumwa Police Department, when officers arrived; they believed felons to be inside the residence with several more firearms, in which officials began to set a perimeter around the area. Officers did arrest one man who tried to escape from the home, while they believed another to be inside.
Around 8 in the evening, the Emergency Response Unit entered the home to serve a search warrant on the property.
Lt. Tom McAndrew with the Ottumwa Police Department explained to KTVO why a process like this one can sometimes take hours to execute.
“Just based on the circumstances in the case, we really had to do a lot of work as far as putting the search warrant together. It took a lot of information. I had two investigators typing, combining their work to do the search warrant, so it took a long time to put the search warrant together. We have one subject who we thought was in the house, turns out he was not in the house and he does has warrants for his arrest. We will be releasing that information later when everything calms down,” McAndrew said.
The Ottumwa Police Department wants the public to know that their safety is not at risk at this time.
More information concerning this case could be released as soon as tomorrow.
Assisting the Ottumwa Police Department in this operation were members from the Wapello County Sheriff's Office.