A man held Kennewick Police Department's SWAT team at bay for several hours Monday, which ended with tear gas being used to draw the man out.
The drama started about 11:30 a.m. at The Village at Volland apartments on Hood Avenue near the WinCo supermarket and ended just before 5 p.m.
A neighbor called 911 after seeing the suspect, Ronald J. Vailencour, 48, break the rear sliding glass door and enter an apartment at 4421 W. Hood Ave., said Sgt. Ken Lattin, with the KPD. Neither his ex-wife nor a teenage daughter were home at the time.
"When police arrived, the suspect said he had a gun and was threatening to shoot officers," Lattin said. "SWAT was called in, and officers took cover at a safe distance and evacuated the surrounding apartments."
Tri-City Regional SWAT members made phone contact with Vailencour's ex-wife, who confirmed she and her daughter were not in the apartment with the suspect, Lattin said.
SWAT then spent several hours trying to coax the suspect out of the apartment, eventually tossing tear gas in through the windows. Police then entered the apartment and apprehended Vailencour, who fought with police and had to be subdued with a Taser. He was then arrested with the help of Kennewick's K-9 unit.
Vailencour was taken to Kennewick General Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries, Lattin said. No police or residents of the apartment complex were injured during the stand-off.
Police still are investigating why the suspect broke into the apartment. He was later booked into the Benton County jail on charges of first-degree burglary, threatening police officers and resisting arrest.
