SWAT Teams Respond in Endicott

7/30/2012 (Updated 11:41:37 PM)

(Source: Jason Weinstein)

Acting on paperwork from the Broome County Office of Mental Health, sheriff's deputies came to this apartment complex on North Street in Endicott to take 61-year-old John Sciarra into custody.

But when they arrived the situation changed quickly.

"Upon our arrival neighbors informed us they had just been chased by Mr. Sciarra with a hatchet and when we got that information he ran back to his apartment before we could take him into custody," said Capt. Frederick Akshar of the Broome County Sheriff's Office.

Police say Sciarra holed himself up in his apartment for about two hours before the SWAT team had to forcibly enter the apartment.

"The SWAT team was utilized. They forcefully entered the apartment and took Mr. Sciarra into custody," said Akshar.

As part of their response police evacuated tenants of the apartment building. The SWAT team entered the apartment and tazed Sciarra, bringing him out out the back door of the building. 

Police say no one was injured during the standoff, and tenants were allowed back into the building shortly after Sciarra was taken into custody.

Sciarra is charged with Attempted Assault 1st degree, a class C felony, Obstructing Governmental Administration, a class A misdemeanor, and Menacing 2nd degree, a class A misdemeanor.

****In Endicott, Jason Weinstein, FOX 40 News.****