Springfield man indicted in standoff that cost taxpayers $6,000

A Springfield man was indicted in a standoff with police that cost taxpayers an estimated $6,000.

William Abston Jr., 36, was indicted in Clark County Common Pleas Court with abduction, inciting to violence, inducing panic, felonious assault, domestic violence, having weapons under disability, using weapons while intoxicated and aggravated menacing.

He is currently in custody at the Clark County jail, according to jail records.

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Springfield police began their investigation on May 12 at around 3:30 p.m., according to an affidavit filed in Clark County Municipal Court.

According to court documents, a 9-1-1 call came into dispatch from Springfield Regional Medical Center before the standoff started. A woman told the dispatcher Abston had attacked her at a home on Roosevelt Drive, but she was able to escape and make it to the hospital.

“He’s got a gun, and it’s loaded,” the woman said. “He’s already fired it once in the house.”

Court documents state the woman and Abston had been arguing since Saturday night and it eventually turned physical.

“(The victim) stated that (Abston) threw her on the bed and began to choke her as she tried to get away. He then pulled out a black gun and pointed it at his head,” the affidavit states.

Abston then allegedly put the gun to the woman’s head and threatened to kill her before firing one round into a bedroom wall, according to the affidavit.

No one in the home was injured from the gunshot, but it was the woman’s call from the hospital that sent police to the home in the 100 block of Roosevelt Drive.

Police say when they got to the house, Abston was yelling and cursing out of the second-story window and breaking some of them. He refused to come out of the house, the documents state.

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Several police and SWAT units blocked off Roosevelt Drive while they tried to negotiate with Abston to surrender.

Many neighbors were evacuated from their homes while the negotiations continued. Court documents state Abston threatened to kill himself several times, and even yelled for the SWAT team members to kill him. Canisters of pepper and tear gas were used to coax him to exit the house.

Abston surrendered peacefully to police as the standoff entered its seventh hour.

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