Medford, Ore. — A man reportedly armed with a knife was taken into custody, following a three-hour long standoff in Medford.
On Friday night around 5 PM, officers were called to the 3000 block of Bullock road.
There was a report of a man with a large kitchen knife threatening someone at the airport mini-storage. When police arrived, they say the man was inside his camper van, and refused to come out.
It was reported that the man was living at the mini-storage in his camper, and a dispute over cars stored at the facility sparked the incident. Police say they spent the next three hours attempting to talk with the man.
“We spent a lot of time during that three hours just trying to communicate with him,” Sergeant Geoff Kirkpatrick said. “We brought in mental health resources, a mental health crisis worker came out and attempted to talk to him over the P.A. system, we attempted to communicate with him over the P.A. system, we called his friends, we called the V.A.”
After three hours, police say they did not get a response, and deployed OC powder, a substance similar to pepper spray, into the van to get him out.
Police took Jerry Kithcart, 61, into custody on charges of menacing and coercion. His bail was set at $17,000. He since has been released from jail.
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