Man barricades self in Moses Lake home, arrested after tear gas deployed, house catches fire
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (07NOV2016) -- A 42-year-old Moses Lake man is in custody after a four hour standoff with police in Moses Lake.
Deputies were called about 11:30 Monday morning to the 3100 block of Valley Road Northeast for a domestic disturbance. Deputies learned from the homeowner that Joel Koch had recently come to stay in the home. This morning, Koch’s behavior became erratic and Koch was asked by the homeowner to leave. Instead, Koch barricaded himself in a bedroom with a knife. All other occupants of the home evacuated.
The Moses Lake Tactical Response Team (TRT) arrived and crisis negotiators tried to convince Koch to come out of the house. Around 3 p.m. negotiations broke down and the TRT lobbed tear gas into the home. The tear gas used by TRT is a cold smoke application without pyrotechnics.
Shortly after the tear gas was thrown into the house, flames were noticed in a bedroom and Koch was taken into custody. Grant County Fire District 5 was on scene throughout the incident and quickly put out the fire. The fire caused damage to the bedroom and there was water damage into the basement.
Charges are pending against Koch who was lodged in the Grant County Jail. The Grant County Fire Marshal is looking into the cause of the fire.
Valley Road was closed in the area of the incident for about five hours.
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