Published: April 03, 2008 10:44 pm            

COURTS: Standoff suspect pleads guilty

The suspect who held police at bay outside an Olcott Street home for more than two hours Jan. 14 has pleaded guilty to a felony charge.

Michael A. Huntington, 42, 167 Olcott St., pleaded guilty Wednesday in Niagara County Court to third-degree criminal mischief, a felony that carries a possible sentence of four years in prison.

He is currently being held at Niagara County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail and is scheduled for sentencing June 3.

Huntington held police at bay with a shotgun outside 167 Olcott St. for two and a half hours, at times holding the gun to his head and threatening to kill himself.

A hostage negotiator talked with Huntington until he dropped the gun and surrendered. The incident, which involved officers from the Lockport Police Department, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police, caused surrounding streets to be shut down during the lunch hour and sent nearby DeWitt Clinton Elementary School into lockdown mode.

Huntington had reportedly become upset earlier that morning after a phone conversation with a Gasport Road woman. He received the call while at the home of a Market Street woman, and he admitted to punching a hole in the door, breaking a lamp and shattering a mirror.

He then reportedly drove a stolen car to the woman’s Quaker Road home and called her from the car, threatening to shoot himself.

He drove back to the City of Lockport, and after a Lockport Police officer tried to execute a traffic stop, crashed the car into a tree in front of the Olcott Street home, and the standoff began.

Huntington, who underwent mental health evaluation after his arrest, may be admitted to a mental health facility.

He had been charged with first-degree-reckless endangerment, a felony, and misdemeanor charges of third-degree menacing, third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle, fourth-degree criminal mischief and two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment.

        

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