Man arrested after standoff

A Baker City man was arrested after a standoff that began about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner, right, Oregon State Police Sr. Trooper Jeff Spencer, center, and Patti Blum of the Baker County Parole and Probation Department, investigated evidence inside the house at 225 Bridge St.

By CHRIS COLLINS
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A distraught man was taken by ambulance to the Baker City hospital after a two-hour standoff with police Thursday afternoon.

Police brought Jonathan Alexander Henry, 22, out of his home at 225 Bridge St., shirtless and yelling. He was loaded into an ambulance that was parked on Bridge Street near Henry’s home.

Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner said Henry was taken to the hospital with several self-inflicted wounds on various parts of his body.

“He was exhibiting some very aggressive, abnormal behavior — possibly drug-induced, based on the assessment at the scene,” Lohner said.

Henry was treated at St. Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City and then lodged in the Baker County Jail.

No police or bystanders were injured.

The incident started after dispatch received a call from Henry’s mother at 12:37 p.m. Thursday.

 She said Henry had told her that someone outside his home was trying to hurt him, Lohner said. When officers responded to the residence, Henry threatened to shoot them, he said.

At that point, police cordoned off Bridge Street between Spring Garden Avenue and Resort Street and set up a perimeter around the house. Six Baker City Police officers, five Baker County Sheriff’s deputies and four Oregon State Police officers responded to the scene.

Lohner said negotiators failed to convince Henry to exit the house. Officers entered the home and found Henry in a bathroom in the back of the house. No weapon was found and no shots were fired. No one else was at the residence.

“He was delusional, apparently,” Lohner said.

The 15 customers at the Oregon Trail Restaurant, next door at 211 Bridge St., were moved to the back of the restaurant about 1 p.m. Thursday, said Doug Zemmer, a cook and dishwasher at the business. Most of the customers left a short time later, he said.

Other employees at the business at the time were waitress Hayden Steele and dishwasher Daric Carpenter. The restaurant closed early Thursday and was reopened for business as usual at 6 a.m. today.

Henry is being held on two counts of disorderly conduct, one count of resisting arrest and one count of violating his probation.

He was expected to be arraigned on the charges today in Baker County Circuit Court, said Matt Shirtcliff, district attorney.

Henry was placed on three years’ probation on Oct. 6, 2010, on convictions for third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault and on 18 months’ probation for a third-degree theft conviction, said Lt. Will Benson, Parole and Probation supervisor.