Crime & Courts

Man backs SUV atop police car during Eagle River standoff

Police took a man into custody Friday after a standoff in Eagle River in which the man allegedly backed his vehicle atop a police patrol car parked in the man’s driveway.

According to the Anchorage Police Department, officers first responded to the 20500 block of Eagle River Road for a reportedly suicidal person. Police said they arrived to find a man was barricaded inside his home and had injured himself with a knife.

At some point during the standoff, the man -- later identified as 52-year-old Benjamin Minton -- tried to leave his residence by backing out of the garage, but was blocked by a police cruiser, according to the APD Facebook page, which posted a photo of the vehicle sitting on top of the police car.

“We parked a patrol car in front of the garage to prevent him from leaving, but he still tried,” police wrote. “Making him stay put kept him safe. Thankfully, we were able to get him into custody.”

Police said a family member tried to disarm Minton.

“As the crisis escalated, Minton injured a family member who tried to intervene and take the knife away from him,” APD wrote in a follow-up Nixle alert about the incident. “The injuries were non-life threatening. When he barricaded himself inside a vehicle, Officers moved a patrol car in front of the garage to block Minton from leaving. Minton still attempted to back out and rolled his vehicle on top of a patrol car. He remained barricaded inside the vehicle until he later surrendered to police, was taken into custody, and evaluated by medics for his self-inflicted injuries. No officers were injured.”

The incident ended shortly before 8 p.m. when police said Minton was “safe and in custody.” APD spokeswoman Kendra Doshier later said Minton was charged with third-degree assault for injuring a family member who tried to intervene as well as criminal mischief for damaging the patrol car. Police said Minton was being treated for self-inflicted injuries.

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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