An armed Fairbanks man was taken into custody Thursday night after a half-day standoff at a North Pole home by Alaska State Troopers, who say he had locked himself inside the residence with his girlfriend.
Nobody was injured in the incident which led to 44-year-old Brian Pitts' arrest on Silverleaf Avenue, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Friday. She said Pitts had a firearm during the encounter.
An online dispatch about the standoff said that Pitts had called troopers at 3:40 a.m. Thursday, reporting that he had locked himself and his girlfriend inside the bathroom because "people were inside his house."
"(I)nvestigation revealed that a home invasion had not occurred; however, (Pitts) appeared to be distraught," troopers wrote. "At (6:35 a.m.) Pitts called AST dispatch again and reported 'they' were being held hostage and asked for troopers to enter his residence."
Negotiators, as well as Pitts' friends, were able to speak with him over the course of the day. Troopers were able to "gain cooperation" from Pitts, the dispatch said, and learned at about 4 p.m. that his girlfriend was unhurt but still inside the home.
Members of troopers' Special Emergency Reaction Team were called in, forming a perimeter before they used a tactical vehicle to approach the residence and continue talking to Pitts. He walked out and surrendered at about 6:30 p.m.
Peters didn't have word Friday on whether Pitts had threatened his girlfriend or why he had initiated the standoff. She said that its duration was partially due to negotiators' sporadic contact with him.
"For a long time he just wasn't communicating with us very well, so we didn't know what the actual situation was," Peters said.
Troopers said Pitts was held on two counts of weapons misconduct, including one for being a felon in possession of a weapon, as well as one count of third-degree assault.