The Daily Times

An Alcoa man was taken into custody after being part of a three-hour standoff with police in his neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Pidgeon, 56, of 219 W. Watt St. in Alcoa, barricaded himself in his home after an altercation with his wife and daughter. He had five outstanding traffic warrants, and charges were possibly pending for aggravated domestic assault.

Alcoa police officers responded to reports of a domestic situation at the West Watt Street residence at about 2:15 p.m. Pidgeon’s wife, Keri Edwards, told police he was armed with a gun and was in a rear bedroom in the basement of the residence.

Police set up a perimeter and evacuated several homes around the residence.

Officers attempted to contact Pidgeon through the P.A. system on a patrol vehicle. When they were unsuccessful, police requested assistance from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team.

At about 5:45 p.m., SWAT members saw Pidgeon through a basement window of the residence and were able to take him into custody without incident. No one was injured.

The Alcoa Fire Department, Blount County Rescue Squad and Rural/Metro Ambulance Service also responded to assist. Maryville Police Department and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office assisted with calls for service in Alcoa, officials said.

“Everything happened just fine,” said Holly Hatcher, community policing officer for the Alcoa Police Department. “When the Alcoa Police Department was on the scene, they waited for the Blount County SWAT Team to arrive. They made entry and successfully apprehended Mr. Pidgeon.”

‘Has a history’

Edwards told The Daily Times after the incident that it started when her daughter was taking her sister to work.

“He and my daughter got into a confrontation,” Edwards said. “He started slamming canned goods all over the place and he slammed the door in my daughter’s face. He said, ‘I’m going to blow your head off.’ I was in the kitchen and he put a gun to my head and said, ‘I’m going to blow your head off as well.’

“He has a history of this kind of behavior,” Edwards continued. “Any little thing would trigger him off. I would go to the store with the car, and he would just blow up. I didn’t think he would do anything at first, but he reacted so badly, and then I thought he’s going do something. I needed to get me and my children out of there. “Women do get killed in situations like this. When someone says they’re going to kill you, they’re usually going to kill you. It’s no joke — you can’t take that risk with your own life.”

Delois Bond, Edwards’ mother, thanked law enforcement for their help, and was thankful the situation did not get worse.

“I really didn’t want to see him get hurt. We believe he was kind of bipolar,” Bond said. “He pulled a gun on his wife and was going to shoot her brains out. I think he wanted the car, and he wasn’t supposed to drive. That just escalated the problem, because he couldn’t do as he desired.”

Edwards, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and has been married to Pidgeon for seven, said she doesn’t know what will happen next, but hopes the impact from the incident will get her husband the help he needs.

“He has not tried to get help in the past,” Edwards said. “I tried to get him help, and I took him to (a specialist), and he didn’t want to go in there. I told him this is his last chance, because he couldn’t live with me. I was in a relationship before with a gentleman who was very abusive to me, and I don’t need that kind of stress.”