North Austin SWAT standoff ends in burglary arrest

An hours-long standoff ended with two arrests Tuesday.

“The original call began by an individual who was seen kicking in a business door,” said Austin Police Sgt. David Daniels.

Austin police say a man broke into a car wash on Metric Boulevard around 4:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Two others were with him. A resident in the apartments across the street called police when they saw the suspicious activity.

“Units responded and surrounded the business locating two individuals in the rear of the business and of course there was one individual who was inside of the business. They detained the two in the rear, and the one inside decided he was not going to come out. He was armed with a weapon. The supervisor decided to contact SWAT team for assistance,” said Daniels.

RELATED: Burglary at North Austin business leads to SWAT standoff

The man barricaded himself inside the office for hours. Police say he was armed with a knife and threatening to harm himself. Police utilized a robot to assist them, per protocol on some swat calls.

The man was eventually arrested. He is charged with burglary.

“People they break into these car washes all the time and try to steal our stuff,” said Ed Dieterichs with CSD Car Wash.

His son owns the business. He says they have other locations around town and break-ins are pretty common.

“The one over here on McNeil was a couple months ago. Then we have another one down south that was about a year ago when they broke into it. These vacuums they broke into was about two weeks ago probably. It's heartbreaking, with the stuff they tear up, you have to fix it, you lose money," he said.

He is thankful for the quick thinking of the caller and the police response. He hopes he doesn't have to find out his family business is being burglarized again in the future.

“If you see anything happening or anything strange call the cops,” said Dieterichs.