Barricaded Moses Lake man arrested after tear gas and fire

Police claim a man barricaded himself in a bedroom with a knife and may have set it on fire after being asked to leave a Moses Lake area home.

The Moses Lake Tactical Response Team was dispatched to a home at 11:30 a.m. Monday in the 3100 block of Valley Road Northeast to help Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to spokesman Kyle Foreman.

Joel Koch, 42, of Moses Lake, was allegedly staying at the house overnight and began acting strangely before the homeowners told him to leave. Instead, he reportedly locked himself in a bedroom with a knife.

Police negotiators failed in talking him out of the room. At roughly 3 p.m. the team used tear gas and flames became visible in the bedroom.

“The tear gas used by (team) is a cold smoke application without pyrotechnics,” Foreman stated.

Grant County Fire District 5 was at the scene and quickly put out the fire, but the fire damaged the bedroom and water damaged the basement.

Deputies arrested Koch, and he allegedly struggled with police putting him into a patrol car. He was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and resisting arrest.

Foreman said the sheriff’s office might request more charges to be filed by the prosecutor’s office.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Barricaded Moses Lake man arrested after tear gas and fire."