Anchorage police arrest man in Muldoon standoff

June 18, 2010

About 20 Anchorage police units responded to a standoff on Muldoon Road Friday afternoon. (Jason Lamb/KTUU-DT)

by Jason Jamb
Friday, June 18, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A Friday afternoon standoff brought dozens of Anchorage police officers to Muldoon and cleared neighbors out of their homes.

It started with a 911 call from Antonio Dillon's girlfriend, who said Dillon had trapped her and her two children in a trailer.

"She was indicating she couldn't leave, her husband was suicidal and she couldn't get out," said APD Chief Mark Mew.

About 20 police units showed up, including the SWAT team. Police say the girlfriend and the kids were able to escape. But Dillon was still inside, possibly armed, and he wouldn't come out.

"He's standing in the doorway, he's talking with the negotiators, we're trying to resolve this without having to shoot anybody," Mew said.

Police cordoned off a perimeter and evacuated nearby homes.

"He just walked by and he told us to go back inside," said neighbor Phia "Pa" Vang.

Lisa Hartgrove got home at 4:30 p.m., only to learn that she couldn't get to her house.

"I've been pretty much waiting out here since then, waiting for the action to get done so I can go home and cook dinner," Hartgrove said.

As afternoon turned into night, negotiations went nowhere, so police readied K-9 dog units.

"We changed our tactics here a little bit," Mew said. "We were stalled out a while taking the softer approach, we decided to take a little bit of a harsher approach."

Just the threat of non-lethal force was all it took, and Dillon surrendered soon afterward.

"It was shortly after we changed tactics there that he came out, and I'm thinking that probably had something to do with it," Mew said.

Neighbors are just glad it's over, and hope that Dillon is headed behind bars.

"I think it's for a long, long time, 20 years probably, because he's a danger to society right now," Vang said.

It was a tense situation that ended with Dillon in handcuffs -- and not a single shot fired.

Police say Dillon will likely face charges of kidnapping and domestic-violence assault.

Contact Jason Lamb at jlamb@ktuu.com

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