58-year-old Benton City man found dead after hours-long standoff with deputies

A 58-year-old Benton City man died by suicide ending an eight-hour standoff with Tri-City Regional SWAT Thursday night.

Curtis Cheves was discovered by a drone inside a home near District Line Road after shooting himself, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Coroner Bill Leach.

Leach has determined he died by suicide, and no autopsy is scheduled.

Benton County sheriff’s deputies were called to the home about 6 p.m. after Cheves allegedly pointed a gun at his sister and threatened to kill her, according to a Facebook post. He allegedly stopped her from leaving for several hours.

The sheriff’s office didn’t say if she was still in the home when they were alerted to the situation. She wasn’t killed.

Deputies soon surrounded the home and the Tri-Cities SWAT team was called. And they tried to reach him by phone, by text message and by using a loud speaker. They didn’t have any success.

Police used a drone to search the house, and discovered Cheves dead inside. It’s not clear when he died.

Cheves had one conviction for second-degree assault in Benton County in 2015, and he served a year in prison. He also had a 2008 Arizona conviction for forgery.

Detectives are continuing investigating his death, said a release.