Man charged with assault following standoff
A Windsor police emergency services unit officer takes Gerald Halliday, 34, into custody in the 600 block of Pierre Avenue April 2. Halliday is charged with assault causing bodily harm and forcible confinement after he allegedly beat up a 32-year-old woman. (April 2, 2014/Photo by Chris Jackman)
By Chris Jackman
One suspect is in custody following a three-hour standoff on Pierre Avenue Wednesday.
Police have identified Gerald Maxwell Halliday, 34, as the man who allegedly beat up a 32-year old woman Wednesday morning. A witness reportedly called police around 9 a.m. when he saw a woman bleeding from her head. The woman was walking into traffic near Wyandotte Street East and Pierre Avenue. He also reported seeing a man following her.
According to a report released by Windsor Police Service’s public information officer Sgt. Matthew D’Asti, police and emergency medical services found the woman near Wyandotte Street East and Marion Avenue, and brought her to the hospital. The report said she had a laceration on her head that required several staples to close, as well as bruising on her ear and forearm.
Police learned the suspect, a friend of the victim, had returned to a duplex in the 600 block of Pierre Avenue, where he was visiting with a relative. Officers were unsure at the time whether he might have a weapon, so the Windsor Police Emergency Services Unit was called to the scene.
The ESU cordoned off the area and tried to talk to the suspect using a megaphone. After three hours ESU officers approached the front door of the home and the suspect opened the door. According to D’Asti he was arrested without incident.
D’Asti also called the presence of the ESU an “abundance of caution,” but commended the unit’s work, and that of the other officers involved.
“When there is any type of crisis within our community we mobilize and we respond, and that’s exactly what we’ve done here,” he said.
D’Asti also said some officers were armed with carbine rifles. According to Const. Larry Hartley’s 2013 Use of Force report, the carbine rifles were introduced to Windsor police as a use of force option in July.
“We had some mixed information regarding that he may have potentially had a weapon,” said D’Asti. “(The rifles) were ultimately to keep the community safe in the event there was a weapon there.”
Halliday is charged with assault causing bodily harm and forcible confinement after he allegedly blocked the victim from leaving the duplex while assaulting her.
