A Michigan man now faces over a dozen criminal charges, including attempted murder, after an erratic armed standoff with police on the night before Thanksgiving.
Vassar Police responded to a 911 call on Nov. 27 about a domestic dispute in a barn, according to police reports obtained by mLive. Hearing a woman's distressed cries, an officer kicked the door open and reportedly found 39-year-old Michael S. Fall assaulting his wife.
Fall allegedly slammed the barn door shut and police were locked out. By the time Fall's wife managed to unlock the door and an officer gained entry, Fall was hiding in a far corner of the barn. Ordering Fall to come out with his hands up, the officer warned he'd be forced to shoot if Fall approached with a firearm.
"Don't f–king threaten me with a good time," Fall shouted back at the officer.
Fall's wife, who had been punched repeatedly and shoved to the ground, was pulled to safety by the officer as gunfire erupted. Fall retreated to his house, where he later told officers he fell asleep. Police surrounded Fall's property in a standoff that ended up lasting roughly five hours. It took an armored vehicle, K9 unit, flashbang grenades, and an MSP helicopter to end the encounter.
Following his arrest, Fall accused his wife of initiating the violence and claimed he initially ran from police "because it's always the man's fault." He described the standoff with law enforcement as "fun," and admitted to firing a gun "four to six times," during the encounter, but insisted he only shot at the ground, just to "get [officers] riled up." Investigators recovered 16 firearms, ammunition, and a suspected crack pipe from his property.
Fall now faces charges that include two counts of assault with intent to murder and seven counts of felony firearm. He is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to determine his competency for trial, with a hearing set for Valentine's Day.
Originally published on Latin Times
