CHESTER TWP. — One person is in custody following a more than 24-hour standoff with law enforcement officials.
Jack Ritchie — the elderly man who barricaded himself in his home — was taken into custody by officers at 3:18 p.m. according to Meigs County Sheriff Keith Wood.
Wood stated that at 3:13 p.m. — after hours of negotiations failed — the officers with the Athens, Gallia, and Washington Emergency Response teams and the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office took steps to remove Ritchie from his home.
According to the Sheriff, the officials used gas to help force Ritchie from the home at that time, and by 3:18 p.m. Ritchie was in custody. Wood said that every effort was exhausted prior to officers making entry into the home.
Ritchie was evaluated at the scene by emergency personnel before being taken to the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office to be processed. Wood stated that Ritchie would then be taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Officers were working to obtain a search warrant for the property as part of the investigation on Tuesday afternoon.
A statement from the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page read,
After a long battle, the standoff is finally over. We have the male in custody. Nobody was hurt in this incident. We want to thank everyone that was involved.
No one was injured as part of the standoff which began just after noon on Monday.
On Monday, officers from the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office responded to a dispute call, with the situation escalating to a standoff situation.
Wood stated that Deputies Adam Smith and Joe Barnhart responded to the call of a dispute between Jack Ritchie and his co-partner in a vehicle business.
According to Wood, the dispute escalated with Ritchie threatening his co-partner with a gun and then threatening Deputy Smith.
No one was injured as part of the standoff which began just after noon on Monday.
Officers with the Athens, Gallia, and Washington County Emergency Response Units, the Washington County Sheriff and Ohio State Highway Patrol were on scene throughout the situation to assist local officers.
In addition, Sheriff Wood noted that Doug Lavender and Bob Byer from Meigs EMS, the Chester and Bashan Volunteer Fire Departments and the Ohio Department of Transportation have assisted his office throughout the incident.
Ohio 248 was closed in both directions during the standoff.
Charges against Ritchie are pending. It is unclear at press time when he will be charged in Meigs County Court.
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