On or about December 18, 2025, deputies from the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the city of Nowthen, Anoka County, Minnesota, in an attempt to arrest CLINTEN MICHAEL LARSON [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter “Defendant,” who had multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest. Defendant’s mother reported that Defendant was inside the Nowthen home. Deputies arrived and evacuated the occupants. Defendant refused to leave the residence. Defendant threatened to shoot law enforcement multiple times and barricaded himself in the basement of the home.
Deputies heard the Defendant state, "[I]f a cop comes downstairs I will shoot them." Deputies subsequently obtained a search warrant for the home. All attempts to negotiate Defendant’s surrender were unsuccessful. Defendant repeatedly threatened to shoot the police and repeatedly stated he would not surrender. Officers deployed drones into the home, and one drone captured video of Defendant firing a black semi-automatic pistol point-blank at the drone. Defendant was seen wearing a black face mask and a camouflage jacket, pointing a pistol at the drone before it went down.
Six (6) total drones, including the one shot by the Defendant were destroyed in the home. One robot was also destroyed and intentionally set on fire by the Defendant throughout this standoff. Each drone and robot costs more than $1,000.00. A chemical irritant was introduced into the residence, but Defendant remained barricaded and continued to refuse to surrender. Nearly 17 hours after the standoff began, a large fire erupted on the upper level of the home, in an area where Defendant had previously been observed.
Shortly thereafter, Defendant exited the residence wearing a gas mask and was taken into custody at approximately 1:00 P.M. On December 19, 2025. Defendant had a phone and a pistol holster on his person at the time of arrest. Deputies and fire investigators later attempted to search the home further and observed that the fire damage was most severe in the southwest upstairs corner of the residence. A large propane torch was located in the middle of that same southwest room, where Defendant was believed to have been located.
Multiple fire-origin areas were identified on both the lower and upper levels, including a tactical robot found at the bottom of the stairs that was not near its original breach point. Another large propane torch was located in the middle of the bedroom floor near one of the suspected points of origin. The home was severely damaged from the fire damage and water used to extinguish the fire that subsequently froze, making the home unsafe and a full search impossible.
