FARR WEST — A man’s seven-hour standoff with Weber County Sheriff’s SWAT team ended peacefully Tuesday evening after he fled from a misdemeanor arrest warrant and barricaded himself inside a neighbor’s house.
Sheriff’s Lt. Chad Ferrin said the standoff started around 1 p.m when the suspect fled his own house on 1300 North and ran to a neighbor’s. He said the warrants were just for misdemeanors — traffic or minor criminal offenses — but “he decided he wasn’t quite ready to go to jail yet.”
Ferrin did not identify the man but neighbors said it was Lance Gallegos, 23, who they had known for many years.
The standoff was on 1300 North in the block just east of 1350 West. Command vans and trucks carrying police equipment clogged 1300 North near the home. Ferrin said a negotiator on the phone tried to talk Gallegos into coming out peacefully.
Ferrin said the situation could have been far worse because when the suspect ran into the home, inside were a woman and two small children.
“He told them not to answer the door when we knocked, so they didn’t,” Ferrin said. “But when he went into another room to see what we were doing in the back yard, they ran out the front door.”
Ferrin said about 25 officers from the SWAT team and the sheriff’s department surrounded the house. Officers dressed in heavy combat gear with helmets, backpacks and body armor could be seen walking around the homes of the block in the 90-plus degree heat.
The situation was complicated because police didn’t know if Gallegos had a weapon before he ran to the house, but they were told there were guns there. He also claimed several times to be armed, Ferrin said.
Trevor Lee, 19, and his brother, Craig Lee, 21, live there with their stepmother. They said they hunt and keep a number of guns both for hunting and home defense.
SWAT members sneaked into the house and grabbed the man by surprise while he was distracted with negotiators on the phone around 8:15 p.m., Ferrin said.
He resisted a little, but did not put up a fight. Ferrin was not sure if Gallegos was armed when he was arrested, but he did not brandish a weapon.
No one was injured.
Gallegos was given a chance to talk to his family, so they could “let him know that they love him,” Ferrin said. The moment was one he had asked for during the negotiations, and one the sheriff’s office wanted to fulfill even though he had not given himself up voluntarily, Ferrin said.
Officers then took him down to headquarters to determine if he should be charged with any offenses stemming from the standoff. He will then be booked into Weber County Jail.
One of the man’s other requests to negotiators was that he be present for the birth of his daughter, who is expected to be born within a week, Ferrin said. He added that they could not promise that.
People who neighbors identified as Gallegos’ parents and pregnant wife huddled in a knot under a tree about three houses down from where he was holed up.
Trevor and Craig Lee were both at work when the incident started. They said their stepmother and siblings were safe with family.
The Lee brothers said they have known Gallegos for many years.
“We used to be close friends with the family when we were younger,” Trevor said. “We used to all play together.”
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