UPDATE 2:26 pm: The below video was posted to YouTube, apparently by Robert Detherow, on Saturday. Detherow said he was armed with the King James Bible, and that he was ready to go to heaven if deputies killed him. He referenced the arrest of his son Hunter for the alleged stabbing carried out in March.
UPDATE 2:22 pm: When Detherow exited the house he tried to fight deputies, but was subdued and arrested according to Sheriff Staly. Both he and the other suspect have been evaluated for their injuries by Flagler County Fire Rescue and were taken directly to the jail from the scene. Detherow apparently had some affiliation with the sovereign citizen movement, a political ideology that rejects the authority of government at the federal, state, and local level.
In all, the standoff lasted over six hours and involved personnel from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Flagler County Fire Rescue. Over three dozen officers of the various agencies responded.
Staly said that Detherow rejected all attempts to communicate with him, which he took as a sign things may not end well. Ultimately no law enforcement personnel were injured, and both suspects are in custody with non-life-threatening injuries from the rubber bullets. Staly said Detherow had animosity against him personally and wanted Staly to be the one to arrest him.
UPDATE 1:53 pm: Robert Detherow, father of Hunter Detherow from the March stabbing referenced in this article, is in custody along with one another unnamed suspect. Both were hit with multiple non-lethal 40mm rubber bullets during the exchange, according to Sheriff Staly, which were actually responsible for the noises previously described as distraction devices.
Detherow was described by Staly as a ‘religious fanatic’ who in previous days indicated he’d be committing suicide by cop. On Wednesday he morning he allegedly barricaded the road in front of his home with household junk and started blasting music. When a female deputy responded he’s said to have begun to masturbate in the nude in front of her and to have hurled objects, including glass bottles, in her direction. He then is said to have barricaded himself inside the home and refused to respond to any attempts to communicate. More information to come.
UPDATE 1:46 pm: Two suspects are in custody.
UPDATE 1:16 pm: What was described as an auditory distraction device was detonated twice around the suspect’s home. No word yet on whether the suspect has been apprehended.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a disturbance at 94 Forsythe Lane as of early Wednesday afternoon. According to Sheriff Rick Staly, a suspect committed aggravated assault on a deputy and then barricaded themself inside the home. The situation is still ongoing as of 12:33 pm.
The home is the listed residence of Hunter Detherow, a former Marine who in March of this year was arrested on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The FCSO is not able to confirm as of this report who the suspect is, but given Detherow is still in custody at the county jail he’s been ruled out as the person in question.
Little information is being made available by the FCSO as of now, but more is expected to be released later on. Sheriff Staly said the FCSO is receiving assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad, and crisis negotiators are on-scene helping the situation. The FCSO Mobile Command Center has been on-scene.
