SWAT officers arrested a St. Joseph man Thursday morning after a standoff of about 12 hours that began when he was reported breaking into a home with an axe, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says.
Ernest Henry Gerdes, 39, was booked into the Stearns County Jail on charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, threats of violence and criminal damage to property, the sheriff’s office said.
At about 6:22 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, a caller in the 9300 block of County Road 138 in St. Joseph Township told 911 that a man the caller knew had broken into their home and was armed with an axe. While still on the phone, the caller said the man was leaving and gave his name, a description of him and his car, and the direction he was headed, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Stearns County deputies and St. Joseph police went to the caller’s home and to the suspect’s home in the 400 block of 1st Street in St. Joseph. Officers saw him inside his home, still holding an axe, and he refused to come out, the sheriff’s office said.
The Stearns-Benton SWAT team was called in at 7:48 p.m. Over the next several hours, negotiators tried to get him to come out, and he was heard yelling threats at officers outside, the sheriff’s office said. The SWAT team used chemical munitions.
Because the Stearns-Benton team had been deployed for so long, the St. Cloud Police SWAT team arrived at about 3:25 a.m. to relieve it. At about 6:40 a.m., St. Cloud SWAT members forced their way into the home and took Gerdes into custody.
Paramedics treated him for minor injuries at the scene, and he was taken to St. Cloud Hospital before being booked into jail.
Gerdes is also the subject of an Extreme Risk Protection Order that was granted on Sept. 14 and is valid for one year, the sheriff’s office said.
The St. Joseph, Avon and Waite Park police departments, the St. Cloud Police SWAT team, the St. Joseph Fire Department and Mayo Ambulance assisted.
