Michael Misener, 42, faces firearms charges
BY DAVE BURKET
The Voice
Around 9:45 AM Tuesday, Niagara Regional Police received a call regarding a “distraught male in a Beckett Crescent residence,” according to NRPS spokesperson Phil Gavin.
At least 15 marked and unmarked police vehicles were gathered at the parking lot for Harold Black Park, in south Fonthill, which police used as a command centre during the incident.
After police issued a shelter-in-place order for adjacent residents, witnesses reported seeing police vehicles and armed tactical (SWAT) officers moving through Beckett Crescent and nearby streets. Yellow caution tape and orange sawhorse barriers were erected to prevent civilian entry.
NRPS spokesperson Stephanie Sabourin tweeted that officers received information regarding the possible presence of a firearm in the home, and out of an “abundance of caution the residence was contained and the Emergency Task Unit was engaged.”
Sabourin said the residence was contained with the assistance of the ETU and that crisis negotiators were able to speak with the male.
“At approximately 11:55 AM, the male surrendered without further incident,” said Sabourin.
She and spokesperson Phil Gavin met with a handful of reporters gathered across from the park to brief them on the incident. Video of part of this briefing appears below.
Sabourin later released a statement identifying the man as 42-year-old Michael Misener, who was arrested upon surrendering, and who has been charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, unauthorized possession of a prohibited firearm, and possession of a firearm contrary to prohibition order.
Misener is being held in custody pending a bail hearing on Wednesday in St. Catharines.
This is the second such incident to occur in Fonthill in the last month. On April 20, a similarly large police response occurred when a domestic disturbance call came in regarding a man barricaded inside a residence on Pelham Street. That incident also ended with the man surrendering and no reported injuries.
https://youtu.be/jGJr_ddfLYs
