Police have arrested a Milton man who barricaded himself with his 4-year-old son in a residence. Crisis negotiation teams from across the state intervened on Friday to get him to surrender and to remove the child safely, according to police press releases.
Shawn Dudley, 36, was charged with custodial interference, resisting arrest, hindering police officers and violating a relief from abuse order, according to a Milton police press release.
On Tuesday, the Milton Police Department received a complaint that Dudley was refusing to return his son to the child’s mother, who “has sole legal responsibility for the child,” according to the release.
For four days, police officers, outreach workers and a member of the Vermont State Police crisis negotiation unit attempted to get Dudley to release the child to the mother. Milton police also obtained a search warrant, the release stated.
On Friday, after nearly eight hours of negotiations with Dudley, officers entered the residence but several barricades and barriers prevented them from moving inside.
Around 7 p.m., Burlington police deployed 17 officers from its emergency response and crisis negotiations teams. Officers from the Essex Police Department, Colchester Police Department and Vermont State Police also responded.
After additional negotiating, Dudley “voluntarily” surrendered and released his son early Saturday, according to Burlington police.
No one was harmed and police did not use force, according to the release.
Burlington police noted that neighboring residents played an “instrumental” role, allowing officers to use their houses, which had similar structural layouts to the one Dudley was in, “for intelligence and as practice space.”
Acting Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad praised the officers who responded to resolve the days-long crisis, and spoke highly of the specially trained negotiators from the city’s emergency response and crisis negotiations teams.
“For our negotiations, the motto is ‘Talk to Me,’ and it requires an incredible amount of focus, humanity, and, most importantly, patience. Nearly ten hours of negotiations is remarkable. The successful outcome we got here is all we ever want,” he said in a press release.
Dudley is being held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility, according to the Department of Corrections’ locator for incarcerated people.
