‘Sirens were going off,’ Neighbors recount hours-long standoff in Kettering

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KETTERING — Neighbors watched as SWAT worked to get a man out of a home Sunday morning.

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As reported Sunday on News Center 7 at 11:00, a neighbor described to News Center 7′s Malik Patterson how unusual it was to hear sirens in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood.

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The standoff started around 7 a.m. when police responded to a house in the 3100 block of Bulah Avenue for a disturbance. A person had barricaded themselves inside the home.

“I woke up pretty early this morning. Honestly thought my husband was playing video games, because there were sirens going off, but they were very short, like, I don’t know, maybe 10 seconds at a time,” said Ashley Yonkers.

She quickly found out that was not the case.

“He was like, ‘No, it’s not me.’ So, then I came out and saw the police presence out here,” Yonkers said.

Another neighbor told Patterson that he saw Kettering Police show up as he was walking his dog Sunday morning.

Yonkers said she wanted to know what was happening on her street.

“I was kind of in and out a little bit talking to neighbors. Eventually started hanging Christmas decorations outside while I waited,” she told Patterson.

That was when Yonkers heard police.

“He’s under arrest, and we’re trying to get him to come out through their, you know, PA system,” she explained.

Kettering Police told News Center 7 that Robert Schafer, 56, is in custody.

They said they responded to a domestic violence call. Officers later found out the suspect had taken his girlfriend’s phone and locked her in the bedroom.

Schafer is facing six preliminary charges including kidnapping, theft, and domestic violence.

“You obviously didn’t know who I was living on the street from, you know, that’s concerning, but I hope that he just gets the help that he needs,” said Yonkers.

She told Patterson she was not able to see Schafer come out of the home, or the windows being busted out.

“Once they actually made the contact, they asked everybody to head back to their houses and stop loitering around,” said Yonkers.

Schafer is currently in the Kettering Jail, according to jail records.

We will update this story.

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