CMPD releases video from 30-hour standoff in southwest Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department uploaded more than 300 video clips on Monday in connection with a lengthy standoff that happened almost a year ago in the southwest part of town.

The original incident happened on March 11 at a house on Griers Fork Drive. CMPD said officers were responding to 911 calls saying that a man was outside and threatening to kill neighbors and police officers.

According to a statement from the department released on Monday, officers had “previous encounters” with the man, identified as Anh Thai. The department says officers had been to the home on Griers Fork Drive “46 times.

CMPD says officers went to the home around 8 a.m. on March 11 and tried to get Thai out of the home. The department said Thai was “armed with a firearm.” After that, the department’s “Community Policing Crisis Response Team” got an involuntary commitment order for Thai, and two more arrest warrants were issued.

By about 11:30 a.m., the department’s SWAT Team was called to the scene and negotiated with Thai. One negotiator made contact with Thai, who identified himself as “Lucifer.”

A video released on Monday captures the phone call that SWAT made with Thai, and he tells the officer, “This is Lucifer; can I help you?”

The SWAT officer responds by saying, “I want to help you, Lucifer.”

CMPD says that at about 5 p.m., he stood in the front doorway with a handgun, and a SWAT officer “fired one round.” The man wasn’t hit by the round, and he went back inside the home, according to CMPD.

Eventually, CMPD’s “Bearcat” armored vehicle moved in and ripped out doors and windows from the front of the house. Police tell Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz that it was in an effort to keep track of Thai and establish different access points.

The department says negotiators “continued communication” with him overnight and into the morning of March 12. By about 1:30 p.m., Thai came out of the house and was taken into custody before being taken to a mental health facility.

Videos of the incident were released after a judge approved a petition in court. The department uploaded about 320 clips from the 30-hour incident. Videos include drone footage showing a SWAT vehicle removing sections of the house, body-worn camera footage from numerous officers who responded to the standoff, and nighttime video from drones and officers watching the house.

One of those drones was knocked down by Thais with a baseball bat.

You can see all of the videos on the department’s YouTube page by clicking this link.

According to court records, Thai was charged with multiple counts of communicating threats, along with violating a protective order; all of those charges were dismissed. He was also charged with two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer with a firearm. Those charges are pending trial, but no trial date has been set, court records say.

Channel 9′s Erika Jackson traveled back to the southwest Charlotte neighborhood to speak with residents who said the incident sparked a major change.

David Lisk still lives in the neighborhood and has had a year to reflect on the 30-hour SWAT situation.

“During that, he was barricaded inside the house for so long that I cannot understand why they would not be apprehensive,” Lisk said.

While the police worked hard to get Thais to surrender and come outside, Jackson showed some of the bodycam videos to Lisk, who recalled hearing CMPD’s armored vehicles rip both doors and windows off of the home.

Officers say that tactic was used as part of their effort to keep track of Thai.

“They were also very good about coordinating with us and making sure we knew this was a police situation; we want to make sure everyone is safe, including the suspect,” Lisk said.

More than 24 hours later, Thai walked out. According to Lisk, the neighborhood has been quiet ever since.

“They returned to relative normalcy,” Lisk said.

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SWAT standoff ends at east Charlotte pawn shop

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