KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Police Department said a man will face several charges after he got into a fight with a neighbor and tried to evade arrest by barricading himself inside a home with weapons.
At around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, KPD said officers responded to calls at Reagan Avenue, where Dusty Mink, 40, of Powell was reportedly in a fight with a neighbor. They searched the area and said they spotted him in the yard of a home on the 3700 block of Dance Avenue in West Knoxville.
KPD said the man ran from officers and climbed onto the roof of a shed with two knives. According to the release, he jumped down from the roof and ran into a home at the corner of Dance Avenue and Cox Street.
He barricaded himself inside the home, police said, and officers suspected he might have been armed with a gun. That prompted negotiators and officers with the Special Operations Squad to respond around 2:45 p.m.
Police said they spent around two and a half hours trying to communicate with the man. At around 5:20 p.m. they said squad members were able to enter the home and talk with Mink, who was in a bedroom. He still refused to leave the room, police said.
Police used a "distraction device" and an "acoustic device" at around 6:30 p.m., but both measures were unsuccessful, they said. They were able to continue talking with him after deploying the devices.
At around 8:30 p.m., they said it was still unproductive to speak with the man. So, squad members sent "gas irritants" into the bedroom, and Mink left the room around 25 minutes later. He was then taken into custody.
Mink had 13 outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court on several previous charges, which included burglary, illegally having weapons and drug charges.