Updated at 10:41 a.m., Friday, February 21, 2003
Police standoff ends peacefully at Hilo hotel
Advertiser Staff
An 18-hour stand-off between Hilo police and an armed fugitive barricaded in a room at the Hawaii Naniloa Resort ended this morning without incident, police said.Police negotiators convinced the 33-year-old felon to surrender at 9:45 a.m., said Big Island police Capt. Samuel Thomas.
The felon had initially taken a 51-year-old male hostage but released the man at 1 a.m. today, Thomas said.
The stand-off began about 6:30 p.m. yesterday. Police received a tip that a convicted felon wanted on several warrants had been seen at the hotel, Thomas said.
"Police officers attempted to apprehend the suspect, who fled and subsequently took a male visitor hostage and barricaded himself and the hostage in an eighth-floor room at the hotel," Thomas said.
After his surrender, the felon was taken to Hilo Medical Center for treatment of injuries received when he initially fled police..
