Portland police arrested a city man just after midnight Saturday and charged him with threatening another individual with a weapon on St. John Street.
Keith Fitzell, 63, was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and creating a police standoff, Portland police said. The standoff lasted more than two hours, ending when Fitzell surrendered to police at 12:24 a.m. Sunday.
Members of the department’s Special Reaction and Crisis Negotiations Team responded to the standoff, which began around 8:48 p.m. after Fitzell came out of an apartment building and pointed a gun at another individual. Fitzell returned to his apartment.
Portland police officers surrounded the building while waiting for the SRT team and negotiators to arrive. The team spent more than two hours trying to contact Fitzell by telephone and by using a loudspeaker. After obtaining a warrant to enter his apartment, members of the SRT used noise flash diversionary devices and other non-lethal methods to get him to surrender peacefully.
Fitzell eventually came outside and was arrested. Portland police said they located several weapons inside his apartment. There was also a warrant out for his arrest for failure to appear. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Portland police at 207-874-8575.
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