PORT ANGELES — About a dozen law enforcement vehicles surrounded a house across Lauridsen Boulevard from Lincoln Park for more than 90 minutes Tuesday while negotiators tried to coax a wanted man out of the house.
By about 10:15 a.m., Port Angeles police had arrested Christopher Michael White, 21, of Port Angeles for investigation of domestic violence and a felony harassment warrant, said Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith.
White did not have a weapon.
“He had gone into the residence prior to our arrival,” Smith said.
“We obtained a telephonic search warrant to go in, and then Port Angeles police and [Clallam County sheriff’s] deputies went in and took custody of him, and he submitted to our authority.”
He did not name the people living at the home at 1434 W. Lauridsen Blvd.
Three people in addition to White were in the home at the time of the standoff, Smith said.
One left the house immediately, a second left a little while later, and the third remained inside, Smith said.
“They were not required to come out but it was our preference that they come out,” Smith wrote in an e-mail.
White, Smith said, was not threatening police with a weapon but was refusing to leave the home and also refused police entry.
“When there are felony charges like this and when they are refusing to comply, we have to go in in a cautious and deliberate way,” Smith said.
“So that is why we stopped traffic and why we had officers on all four sides of the building.
“It is standard protocol in a situation like this.”
State Patrol blocked off about six blocks of Lauridsen stretching from F Street to L Street.
Officers armed with machine guns and protective gear flooded toward the house, surrounding it as officers prepared to go in.
Negotiators with Port Angeles police spoke with White over a telephone and via a megaphone for more than 1 ½ hours, Smith said.
“Everyone did a really great job, but he chose not to come out,” Smith said.
“So when we were ready and we had gotten the warrant, we went on in.”
State Patrol, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol assisted.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.