Man in custody after three-hour standoff

( Legal or illegal ? )

After allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, barricaded himself

Ofelia Garcia Hunter, Alice Echo-News Journal

A man barricaded himself for about three hours in the early morning Friday after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and pointed a handgun to her forehead at an apartment complex, police said.

"He barricaded himself in the apartment, so we used our negotiator to talk to him through the phone," said Lt. Luis Barrera with the Alice Police Department.

According to police reports, Anthony Ramirez, 21, struck his girlfriend in the back of the head with an unknown object at the Manor Apartments located on the 2600 block of North Texas Boulevard. Police said the fight started because his girlfriend was interacting with a man on the Internet. The victim, who is pregnant, struggled with Ramirez as he continued to punch her in the face and at one time pointed a handgun to her forehead, making threats of harming her. Ramirez also pointed the gun to his head and threatened to kill himself, the report said.

The victim was pushed to the floor and she was able to escape from Ramirez and found an officer in the area. The officer took the victim to a safe location and called for medical help, the report said. The victim sustained head, back and neck injuries and was transported to CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice. She was later released from the hospital.


Meanwhile, Ramirez barricaded himself in the apartment about 1 a.m. Friday as police arrived and it took about three hours for him to surrender to police, officials said. The SWAT team was called in to assist, the report said.

The handgun was recovered, police said.

Ramirez surrendered about 4 a.m. Friday and was taken to the Jim Wells County jail and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and family violence, police said

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