Southwest Park Avenue looked more like a staging ground than a residential street Tuesday afternoon. U.S. Marshals, working with the Lawton Police Department, shut down the block for more than two hours while they worked to bring 41-year-old Richard Von Atkinson Jr. out of a home. He was wanted on a September 3 Oklahoma County warrant for felony conjoint robbery, and he wasn’t coming out on his own.
Law enforcement didn’t storm the house. They used a drone to locate Atkinson inside, brought in an armored vehicle equipped with a breaching tool, and cut the water supply to make staying inside less of an option. Two women at the scene were detained. A crisis negotiator eventually got on the loudspeaker with a direct message: walk outside with your hands in the air. Just after 2 p.m., that’s exactly what happened.
Atkinson is now in custody with no injuries reported, and the neighborhood has returned to normal. He has prior felony convictions in Oklahoma and other states, so this isn’t his first run-in with the law. For neighbors on that block, though, it was a long afternoon of blocked roads and heavy equipment. The peaceful ending is the part worth remembering.
What do you think about how this was handled? Let us know in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.