On 5-17-12, at 4:06 PM, officers were sent to an apartment at 1205 W. 9th. The call was initially reported as a home invasion robbery in progress, and the name of the suspect was provided. Officers found that the call was actually an aggravated assault involving family members. Officers contacted a WF 43 and a WF 33 at the front door of the home. The 43-year old lives there and the second woman was a witness that was a guest in the home. Officers confirmed that the named suspect was in the home, though he was not in view. The WF 43, the suspect’s mother, reported that she and her son had been arguing. During the argument, the man armed himself with a handgun and began “waving it around”. He made verbal threats toward her that made her fear he was going to shoot her. When the suspect saw the victim on the phone, he suspected that the police had been called. He put on what was described as a Kevlar vest type body armor and went into a bathroom closet. As officers searched the home, the suspect came out of the bathroom. He was unarmed and not wearing the body armor. He was placed under arrest. Officers recovered a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol and the bullet-resistant vest from the closet of the bathroom. The suspect, Joseph Michael Barrow WM 25 of Amarillo was booked into the Potter Co. Detention Center on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated assault on a family member, and unlawful possession of body armor by a felon.
