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.
RELATED: Man in custody after 30-hour-long SWAT situation ends, CMPD says
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.”
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 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 Thai 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 Hunter Sáenz is examining the videos and breaking down the critical moments for officers and the suspect. Watch at 5 for the full story.
(WATCH: SWAT standoff ends at east Charlotte pawn shop)
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