Police officers and the city’s Tactical Response Team surrounded a house in the 600 block of Baltimore Street as temperatures approached triple digits trying to get Duhamel, 30, of Franklin to come out.
Police have been searching for Duhamel since he eluded Warren County Sheriff’s deputies Wednesday evening when he was in a standoff after her allegedly barricaded himself inside a home on Mentz Road in Franklin Twp. When officers entered the home, he was not there.
Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw said an officer saw Duhamel Thursday in Middletown, and that’s when he then ran inside the house. The first cruiser arrived at 1:04 p.m.
“After he ran inside officers and neighbors said they heard what sounded like a gunshot,” Muterspaw said.
As a precaution, officers cleared residents out of four adjacent houses for their own safety.
“We had the SWAT team come out,” Muterspaw said. “We were able to deploy gas and get in there and get him out safely.”
Duhamel was taken into custody at about 3 p.m.
Muterspaw said Duhamel was complaining of a back injury and was taken to Atrium Medical Center to be treated.
As of late Thursday afternoon, Middletown police were doing a consent search to locate a weapon inside the residence.
Muterspaw said he was not sure what Duhamel would be charged with, or if he will be turned over to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, at this time.
No officers were injured during the standoff.
During the standoff, neighbors were watching from their front porches and from the taped off area as the incident unfolded. They were also recording the standoff on their smartphones.
Muterspaw said he wishes people in the future would not post live videos of police trying to do their job while they are trying to get a suspect out safely from a building, or yelling at police.
“You’ve got to be patient on those things, even if it’s a family member,” Muterpaw said. “Let us do our job and get him out of there.”
During the standoff, a woman identified as Duhamel’s mother from the taped off area at Woodlawn Avenue and Baltimore Street kept calling out to him to come out and said, “Mommy loves you.”
“This is heartbreaking to see his family begging for him to come out,” said Dlois Mabe, who watched the incident from her front porch.
Three people yelling at police during the incident were arrested for misconduct at an emergency, which is a misdemeanor, Muterspaw said.
Other residents, and Muterspaw, said the house was also a known drug house.
Warren County Sheriff’s Office had put out a description of Duhamel and that he could be armed and that the public should call 911 if they see him.
Early Thursday morning, Warren County authorities had issued arrest warrants for Duhamel after he eluded deputies and a Tactical Response Team during the commotion and fireworks surrounding the Fourth of July holiday.
Duhamel, who is known to law enforcement, is wanted for aggravated menacing, inducing panic, and violation of a temporary protection order, deputies said.
During the Warren County standoff, the Warren County Tactical Response Team was called out because Duhamel — who was believed to be armed — threatened police and was thought to have threatened residents after forcing his way into the home. However, when deputies entered the house, Duhamel was not found. No shots were fired and no one was injured.
According to deputies said he had stolen a car and went to the Mentz Road residence because he had a female friend living there. Deputies did seize the car Duhamel left behind, as well as suspected drugs and ammunition found in the car.
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