Hours-long standoff in Antioch ends in arrest of armed man for domestic violence, assault, more
Has history of arrests including for same crimes in 2021
By Lt. Joe Njoroge #7052, Antioch Police Field Services Division
A nearly eight-hour standoff with an armed man ended with the suspect being arrested by the APD SWAT team. On November 8th, at approximately 3:43 p.m., Antioch police officers responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon, felony domestic violence, kidnapping, robbery, and violation of a court order in the 1000 block of Stonecrest Drive.
It was reported that a woman had been assaulted, kidnapped, and robbed by the suspect. Officers arrived on the scene and found the 47-year-old female victim outside the home. The suspect was believed to be armed and had barricaded himself inside the home. Officers also discovered that the suspect had violated the terms of a court order during the incident and had several unrelated felony arrest warrants for violating the terms of his probation.
Officers attempted to negotiate with the man for several hours, but he refused to comply with commands and even displayed a large knife at officers. The Antioch Police Department Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) and Antioch Police Department SWAT team responded to the home and continued negotiations.
At 11:46 p.m., the APD SWAT team took the suspect, 61-year-old Tony Lamar Watson (born 6/16/63) of Antioch, into custody. He was transported to a hospital for further medical evaluation and later booked into the county jail for the charges of assault with a deadly weapon – force, felony domestic violence, kidnapping, robbery, violation of court order, resisting arrest and felony warrants.
According to Interim Police Chief Brian Addington the suspect lives at the home and the victim has a restraining order against him. “She has a court order against him to stay away,” he said. “But she was over there at his place.”
During the standoff, the police department issued a public notice to avoid the area and for all residents in the area to shelter in place. The notice read, “Please avoid the 1000-block of Stonecrest Drive due to police activity. Officers are working a contained emergency situation and need the area kept clear for first responders. There is no threat to the public. All residents in this area are asked to shelter in place until further notice. Please do not call 9-1-1 unless you are reporting an emergency.” It was later lifted following the end of the standoff and arrrest.
According to localcrimenews.com, Watson has a history of arrests dating back to 2018 by Antioch PD and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department for crimes including battery on a spouse, co-habitant, former spouse; battery on a person, shoplifting, assault with a deadly weapon or assault with force likely to produce great bodily harm, robbery, and resisting, obstruct or delaying a peace officer. In February this year he was arrested for burglary, disobeying a domestic relations court order, conspiracy to commit a crime and lying to police.
According to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office, the suspect is Black and as of 6:08 AM on Saturday, Nov. 9, he is still in custody. No additional information was provided as of publication time.
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.
the attachments to this post:
APD Press Release 2024
