Barricaded suspect arrested – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2015-01-15

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Barricaded suspect arrested By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Jan 15, 2015 12:00 AM A A GOLD HILL — Oregon State Police and the Jackson County sheriff's SWAT team Thursday arrested a 56-year-old Medford man who had barricaded himself in a travel trailer at Valley of the Rogue State Park, following a standoff that lasted more than six hours. According to state police, troopers were dispatched around 10 a.m. to the park's RV camping area for a report of a domestic dispute at one of the trailers. By the time they arrived on scene, police say, Charles Preston Ulmer III had barricaded himself inside his trailer in the D loop parking area. Troopers at the scene said the Ulmer's girlfriend told them he had made comments about wanting to "shoot it out with police"; police say the woman wasn't in any danger during the incident. State police called in the Jackson County Sheriff's Department SWAT team, who set up an inner perimeter around the trailer and evacuated the entirety of the surrounding RV camping area. SWAT negotiators, using a loudspeaker, pleaded with Ulmer to come out of the trailer for almost two hours. Around 1:50 p.m., police set off two "flashbang" distraction devices in front of the trailer; the blasts rattled windows across the river, but Ulmer still refused to surrender. About an hour and a half later, after repeated warnings that they were giving the Ulmer his "last chance" to come out, a large group of SWAT team members approached the trailer using an armored vehicle. State police said they finally took him into custody around 4:16 p.m. Ulmer was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on charges of fourth-degree assault, strangulation, resisting arrest and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, jail records show. State police say the criminal mischief charges stem from police equipment he allegedly damaged during his arrest. His bail is set at $60,000. Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . Smoke rises from a flashbang distraction device tossed at a recreational vehicle in The Valley of the Rogue Park during a standoff during a standoff with the Oregon State Police and Jackson County Sheriffís SWAT team. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Jackson County Sheriffís SWAT team members organize behind a recreational vehicle in The Valley of the Rogue Park during a standoff with the police in the park. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell