A man was arrested on suspicion of felony menacing after he threatened a woman, smashing a motel room and had a multihour standoff with police Saturday night at Durango Lodge.
The Durango Police Department was notified about 6 p.m. that a man with a hatchet was threatening a woman in the motel hallway, said city spokesman Tom Sluis.
“He was swinging it around and saying next time he’ll kill her,” Sluis said. “She did not know him.”
Sluis said officers arrived and knocked on the man’s motel room door. He answered holding the hatchet, threatened to attack them, then slammed the door and locked himself inside.
“SWAT was called due to the nature of the crime with a weapon,” Sluis said. “After a few hours he exited his hotel room and surrendered.”
No force was used to take the man into custody, Sluis said. His identity had not been released as of Sunday.
Inside the room, officers found everything had been smashed with the hatchet.
“The only damage to the hotel was done by him,” Sluis said.
Because the man threatened a woman and officers with a hatchet, the man faces a felony charge.
“Menacing is a class one misdemeanor, but it is a class five felony if committed (with) the use of a firearm, knife or bludgeon, or a simulated firearm, knife or bludgeon,” Sluis said.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
