Man arrested peacefully at University of Minnesota hotel

Published 10:13 pm Tuesday, January 30, 2018

MINNEAPOLIS — A man holed up in a hotel on the University of Minnesota campus was arrested Tuesday after a 36-hour standoff with police.

No one was hurt as the man was taken into custody about 1:43 p.m., university spokesman Evan Lapiska said. No other details were immediately released pending a news conference.

The standoff began after midnight Monday, when police said they went to the hotel on a welfare check and to try to arrest the man on a non-violent, “white-collar crime” warrant out of Arizona. The ensuing impasse led university officials to close nearby streets for a time and evacuate some hotel guests.

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A woman who was with the man was released late Monday. Around midday Tuesday, officers who had been negotiating with the man turned to more aggressive tactics, using what appeared to be tear gas to try to dislodge him from his sixth-floor room.

The university said there was no direct threat to students. An unknown number of guests were evacuated from nearby rooms on Monday.

Although the hotel and nearly all of the college campus remained open, the university’s recreation and wellness center, directly behind the hotel, was closed, as were local streets to accommodate police vehicles.