WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices, released the following News Alert:
According to reports from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, a six-hour police standoff at La Vie! cafe on Front Street ended Tuesday after police spent the day attempting to reason with the 26-year-old inside who made obscene gestures and brandished a kitchen knife. Officials arrived on the scene just before 10 a.m. after cafe owner Yeyen Gunawan received a phone call from her manager around 9:45 a.m. who had arrived at work to find the side door open and the suspect inside. Police cordoned off Front Street, shut down a block of Cathcart Street and forced a dozen businesses on the street to close as officers took cover behind parked vehicles and aimed assault rifles at the cafe.
The suspect, identified as Kriston Carter, supposedly drank a beer, got a dessert out of the case and threw things around inside the restaurant, said Gunawan. Two negotiators inside the building attempted to talk to Carter for two hours but were unsuccessful. Moments before his arrest, Carter held a pair of scissors to his throat, forcing police to deploy a TASER device to subdue the man and prevent self-harm. Carter was taken to a local hospital where he was examined for injuries before arriving at County Jail. He faces charges including suspicion of burglary, felony vandalism and resisting arrest.
Lt. Rick Martinez said their primary concern was "getting him out safely," and that their show of force Tuesday was to protect Carter from harming himself. Gunawan has already forgiven Carter and plans to donate 15 percent of the profits at La Vie! this week to the National Alliance of Mental Health.
This information was compiled through publicly available media reports and distributed by Dittus Communications, Inc. of Washington, D.C.
TASER International, Inc. and Dittus Communications, Inc. disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy of the media reports that are the sole responsibility of the attributed media source.
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