Man arrested in hostage situation

Law enforcement officers helped a woman climb down from a second-story window to escape from a man who was holding her hostage in a Waterloo, Neb., house and eventually persuaded the man to surrender early Sunday, police said.

Waterloo and Valley, Neb., police went to the home in the 23700 block of Cedar Drive about 11:30 p.m. Saturday on a domestic disturbance call, but the officers were unable to contact anyone inside.

They forced their way into the house after learning that a woman inside had been assaulted and was injured, Waterloo Police Chief Tim Donahue said. But the man had piled furniture inside the door, threw furniture at officers, and threatened to harm the woman if the officers did not leave, the police chief said.

Douglas County Sheriff's deputies, Nebraska State Patrol hostage negotiators and Omaha and Bennington police then were called in to help.

The woman had a protection order against the man, who was her former son-in-law, Donahue said. The 41-year-old Waterloo, Iowa, man went to the house looking for his ex-wife, who was not there. He had taken methamphetamine, Donahue said, and he later told police that he hadn't slept for a couple of days.

The woman got away when the man left her bound with tape in a second-floor bedroom while he looked for a handgun inside the home, Donahue said.

She managed to open a window, and an Omaha police officer backed up a police SUV to the house while other officers helped her climb down on top of it.

Officers heard a gunshot shortly after she escaped. The man inside, however, was not injured.

The woman suffered bumps and bruises, and she had a gash on her head from being struck with a lamp, he said. After she escaped, she was taken by ambulance to Lakeside Hospital and had the cut closed with staples.

About 5 a.m. Sunday, after several hours of negotiating, the man surrendered, Donahue said. The man was taken to Lakeside Hospital for an examination and later arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, making terroristic threats, violating a protection order and felony property destruction.

Contact the writer:

444-1304, news@owh.com