Tense SWAT situation ends with dramatic rescue

(4/19/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- HPD's SWAT team was called in to help rescue a woman and her newborn. They say the woman's husband threatened to kill her and the child.

It started around 9:30pm Wednesday at an apartment complex near Edgemore and Alder in southwest Houston. When police arrived, the man who lived in the unit wouldn't unlock the door. Authorities say the man was intoxicated and was allegedly beating his wife.

Police say the man kept saying he would hurt his three-week-old baby boy and his wife. Authorities decided to step back from the situation and call in a SWAT team to assist in the matter.

"We brought in our negotiators and we tried to talk to him for several hours to try to get him out; to let the wife and baby leave. But he said he would kill them and kill himself and wouldn't come out," said A.J. Mihalco with the HPD SWAT team.

During the standoff, the wife tried to leave the apartment several times. It was in her last attempt to go to the door that the SWAT team stormed into the apartment. They used a Taser to subdue the suspect.

The man now faces aggravated kidnapping and assault charges. No one else was injured in the incident.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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