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KPD: More than four-hour long hostage standoff ends without injury

Officers engaged in a standoff that lasted more than four hours Thursday night after a chance encounter with a suspect with warrants on file for his arrest.

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, August 10, Knoxville Police Department officers were on a separate call when they saw 30-year-old Amari Beal, a suspect with warrants on file for his arrest, enter a residence at 1501 Moses Ave., according to a KPD news release. What followed became a more than four-hour hostage standoff between Beal and police and resulted in Beal being charged with two counts of false imprisonment.

When officers recognized Beal, they approached the house, knocked on the door and spoke through the door with the female homeowner. After speaking to the woman, Beal refused to come out, the news release said.

At this point, the officers began to back away from the house. As they did so, the woman started screaming for help and said Beal would not let her or her 3-year-old child leave the house. Beal had also barricaded the door.

The officers then called for Negotiators and Special Operation Squad members to respond to the scene. Once there, negotiators were able to make contact and speak with both Beal and the woman, but Beal quit communicating with them sometime before 4:33 a.m. on Friday and refused to let the woman and her three-year-old leave.

Special Operation Squad members then entered the residence at 4:33 a.m. They took Beal into custody without incident; the woman and her child were rescued. No one was injured during the standoff.

The warrants on file for Beal's arrest included aggravated burglary, theft, two counts of failure to appear, three counts of violation of probation and possession of Schedule II Drugs from Washington County, Tennessee.

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