DETROIT – A barricaded gunman was arrested hours after he pointed a weapon at a man who was mowing the grass in a vacant lot near his garden in Detroit, officials said.
Detroit police received a call around 9:30 a.m. about an incident in the 14000 block of Bentler Street on the city’s west side.
Miguel Wesley was mowing the grass at a vacant lot when the owner of the property next door came out, according to Detroit police Cmdr. Arnold Williams.
The man asked Wesley not to cut his garden, which was next to the vacant lot, Williams said.
“I was just cutting the lots like I usually do,” Wesley said. “He came out waving his hands at me. I stopped to see what he wanted. He told me something about somebody came through and messed his lot up.”
Wesley works for a landscaping company that’s contracted by the city of Detroit to mow lawns on vacant and abandoned properties. He said he’s seen the man a couple of times while mowing lots.
“He got going crazy, jumped on top of my John Deere, jumped on my tire, got to zigzagging in and out in front of me as I was trying to cut the grass,” Wesley said. “When I stopped, he opened up my tractor door, threatened me. So I jumped out and told him, ‘Get away from me.’”
The man went into his house and came back out with a rifle and a handgun, according to authorities.
Officials said he pointed a gun at Wesley and then returned to his house.
“As I finished cutting, he came back out with his sawed-off shotgun with a strap on and his pistol out, aiming it at me,” Wesley said.
Wesley said he called 911, and officers responded to the scene. There was no clear path to get to the man’s house and knock on the door, so Detroit police declared this a barricaded gunman situation, they said.
Officers spoke with the homeowner, who went in and out of the house throughout the situation. He surrendered after about two or two and a half hours and was taken into custody, Williams said.
There were six pit bulls, but no other people, inside the house, according to officials.
“We did clear the location, and we did recover the rifle that we talked about, and we also recovered a handgun,” Williams said. “I don’t know if there were any other weapons recovered.”
The man is likely to face a felonious assault charge. Williams said he’s not sure if there will be any additional charges.
No people or dogs were injured, police said.
You can hear the full update from Williams below.