Police capture suicidal person
Grand Prairie police had to cordon off portions of a neighborhood Tuesday afternoon preventing entire families from getting to their homes.
Police spokesperson Detective John Brimmer said officers were called to the 1100 block of La Fiesta around 2:56 p.m. for a domestic disturbance.
The first arriving officers learned that Ronald Powell, 30, had assaulted his wife, taken approximately 20 pills of a prescription drug, threatened suicide, and barricaded himself in a house. Powell’s wife told police that there was no one else in the home but there was a handgun.
The area around the house was blocked and the police department’s tactical team was called in. Negotiators were able to make contact with Powell around 5:35 p.m. but when negotiations broke down, officers deployed a chemical agent inside the home. Tactical officers were then able to enter the home and apprehend Powell without incident, Detective Brimmer said. Powell was transported by ambulance to Parkland Hospital for medical treatment and mental evaluation, he said.
