HOUSTON – A man was arrested Friday after a shootout with Bellaire police and taking cover on the front porch of a nearby home for several hours, authorities said.
Bellaire police Chief Byron Holloway said the nearly four-hour-long incident began after an officer pulled over a driver who ran a stop sign. The driver, later identified as David Michael Widerman, stopped the vehicle at a gas station near Fournace Place and the 610 West Loop, jumped out and fired two shots at the officer, who was still in his patrol car and returned fire, the chief said.
The officer was not injured, Holloway said.
Holloway said Widerman then ran down Fournace Place to Anderson Street, where he fired at least one more shot at the pursuing officers. He then ran down Anderson Street to Tamarisk Street, onto the front porch of a home and held a gun to his head, the chief said.
Mike Netzel lives across from the home and caught the incident on his phone.
“I could see a man that basically had a gun to his head. He was moving the gun to his mouth and to his body,” Netzel said.
WATCH: Cellphone video of man in standoff with police
Authorities said they did what they could to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else.
“Officers stopped,” Holloway said. “They tried to engage him in conversation using the PA system in the patrol car. He just stayed there. He was nonresponsive. So we contained the scene.”
VIDEO: Sky 2 flies over scene of Bellaire standoff
Officers evacuated two people from the home and called Houston police for assistance, Holloway said.
Houston police Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said SWAT officers and negotiators from the department arrived at the scene and tried to get Widerman to put down the gun.
“What I do know (is that) there was very little that he said at all,” Satterwhite said. “A lot of it was his actions, and most of his actions were just pure noncompliance.”
Satterwhite said some less-lethal rounds were fired at Widerman, which eventually led to his surrender and arrest about 12:15 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
Police said they are not sure why Widerman opened fire on officers.