PALM COAST – 57-year-old Michael Wells was arrested Monday night at his Palm Coast residence following a 2-hour standoff with police. Wells was reportedly armed during the confrontation, creating a dangerous situation for responding deputies.
The incident began when Wells allegedly hurt a family member in an act of domestic violence, sending them fleeing down the street. The family member was able to call 911 and report what had happened. They advised the FCSO that Wells was considerably drunk, and had been for some time.
When deputies arrived on-scene Wells reportedly refused to exit the residence, saying he “wouldn’t go down without a fight”. The victim informed police that Wells had a firearm inside the residence, kicking the incident into high gear.
ⓒ Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
The FCSO’s Crisis Negotiations Team began communicating with Wells, attempting to get him to come out on his own. This went on for around an hour and a half, and Wells did leave his gun at the front door. Deputies took it from there, but Wells is said to have once again become agitated, and moved further back into the home. He came back forward with another gun, which the FCSO says he did not point at deputies. He did, however, reportedly have it in-hand while yelling at them.
Another half hour passed before deputies were at last able to arrest Wells. He was booked on four felony charges (domestic strangulation, domestic false imprisonment, resisting an officer with violence, and aggravated assault on an officer) and two misdemeanor charges (domestic battery and domestic assault). His bond was set at $102,500, and as of Wednesday afternoon he’s listed as still being in jail.
“Deputies encountered an extremely dangerous situation and used deescalation techniques to bring Wells into custody without any injury to Wells or themselves,” said Sheriff Rick Staly after the standoff. “Our Deputies focus is to protect all lives. In this case, they deescalated a potentially deadly situation which is what they are trained to do.”
