Update: Man In Custody Following Police Standoff In Westerly

This story has been updated with information from Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey.

WESTERLY, RI — A man is hospitalized and in custody following a police standoff today in the Bradford neighborhood.

Police received a call from a woman at 9:50 a.m. concerning her husband, said Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey. A man was barricaded inside a residence at 29 Canterbury Drive.

Lacey said the man was yelling from a second-floor window and issuing orders to neighbors when his wife called. She told police her husband had a history of mental illness and PTSD, Lacey said. Police arrived to find the man breaking windows, throwing items into the yard, verbally threatening officers, and throwing knives and swords at officers. Lacey said the man displayed a rifle, but then threw the firearm out the window into the front yard.

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Police continued to negotiate with the man while assembling a SWAT team. Police threw gas grenades into the house in an effort to get the man to come outside. Police entered the building and found the man hiding in a crawl space on the second floor. The man was taken into custody without incident and transported to Westerly Hospital for evaluation. Westerly police made use of an assigned Mental Health Clinician, who provided a needed certification, Lacey said.

The police chief said charges are forthcoming.

The incident led to significant property damage. In addition to broken windows, water damage resulted when the man blocked sinks with the water running, Lacey said. The man’s wife and a handicapped adult child were provided with shelter.

Westerly police identified the man as 57-year-old Manuel Valles. The scene was cleared by 2 p.m.

ABC 6 and NBC 10 first reported the news on Twitter starting at around 12:30 p.m. There were reports that a SWAT team was present and that loud bangs were heard.

#BREAKING: Police in Westerly tell me they are on scene for an active standoff at a home on Woody Hill Road in the Bradford section of town @ABC6
— DOMINIQUE TURNER (@DominiqueABC6) June 3, 2021

Standoff in Westerly, Rhode Island.

SWAT Team is here. Neighbors told me they heard a man screaming this morning.

Since I’ve been here, there have been several loud bangs pic.twitter.com/ko4LIlFCMS
— Kelly O'Neill (@NBC10_KellyO) June 3, 2021