Barricaded Suspect Safely Arrested After Hours-Long Negotiations
With the assistance of the Warrant Service Group, Spokane Valley Deputies successfully arrested a suspect who barricaded the doors of his residence and would not surrender after he threw a mason jar of rocks at his roommate’s head and locked her out of the house. The victim ducked and was not injured during this incident.
On May 30, 2021, at approximately 5:40 pm., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a residence near the intersection of Moen and Sprague for the report of a male throwing things, yelling, and denying access to his roommate/victim.
The victim explained she lived in the bottom portion of the residence, and the suspect, later identified as 36-year-old Dustin A. Olson, lived in the upstairs part. The victim said Olson has been throwing things around the house and would not let her inside. She said she believed Olson was having a breakdown and that he has become increasingly erratic since being informed last week she was moving out.
She has tried to stay away from home as her fear of Olson’s irrational and intrusive behavior increased. Today, she stayed away most of the day but came home shortly before calling 911. She was outside in the front yard, and for some unknown reason, Olson opened the front door, began yelling obscenities, and threw a mason jar, partially full of rocks, at her. She said she ducked to avoid being hit in the head, which she believes was Olson’s intended target.
The victim tried to allow the Deputies inside the home to contact Olson, but the doorknob seemed to be disabled, and the door appeared to be barricaded closed. A check of the rear slider found it to be intentionally blocked with large pieces of furniture.
A check of Olson’s name revealed that he is a convicted felon and had a history of resisting, obstructing, malicious mischief, disorderly conduct, and assault.
Deputies attempted over a dozen phone calls, and multiple loudspeaker announcements went ignored by Olson for over an hour. Deputies could hear loud thumping noises coming from inside the home, which they believed was Olson fortifying the blockages of the doors. They applied for and were granted a search warrant for the residence.
Just after 7:00 pm., Deputies were able to get the front door of the residence open. They yelled inside, telling Olson to exit the home, to which Olson replied, “F*** You!” The Deputies could see numerous items intentionally constructed to block the route to Olson’s room, including wood pieces fastened to the wall by screws. Olson continued yelling vulgarities, saying he hated law enforcement and wanted cops to kill him as he refused to comply.
The Deputies requested the assistance of the Warrant Service Group. At the same time, they continued to try and de-escalate the situation and convince Olson to surrender, including unanswered phone calls by Hostage Negotiation Team members.
At approximately 8:15 pm. with all attempts to get Olson to surrender exhausted and the Warrant Service Group deployed inside the home, several warnings that chemical irritants would be used if he did not surrender were given.
With all of those warnings ignored, irritants were deployed. Olson continued to resist saying he would never be taken alive, continuing to ignore ongoing commands to give up.
Eventually, the irritants had the desired effect, and Olson decided to surrender. He was safely taken into custody and provided medical attention.
The actual owner of the residence was contacted and informed of the incident. He advised he wanted to pursue charges for the damage caused by Olson.
Olson was later transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Assault 4th Degree (DV), Malicious Mischief, Resisting, and Obstructing.