Wednesday, July 18, 2007
LIBERTY — Bobby Mock, 40, who was holding a woman hostage in a room at the Holiday Inn Metroplex, was arrested at about 10:15 a.m. today after police fired tear gas into the room Mock was in.
Negotiations, which had begun more than eight hours earlier, had broken down, police said afterward. No one was injured.
Police didn’t identify the woman, who they said is a relative of Mock’s. Police said they believed Mock was armed, but they didn’t say the type of weapon.
Police wouldn’t say where in the hotel the two were holed up, but a hotel guest said police told her the hostage situation was on the fourth floor. Rooms were evacuated, but the dining facility at the hotel was still serving guests.
Captain Richard Tisone of the Liberty police said Mock made a variety of demands, ranging from soft drinks to freedom, during the standoff. He also asked to speak to someone locked up in the Portage County Jail. It’s not known how many, if any, of his requests were fulfilled by authorities.
The confrontation began at about 1:30 a.m. today when police went to the hotel with warrants for Mock and for Brian Simeone, 33. Police haven’t said what the warrants were for, nor have they said how the standoff began. Simeone was taken into custody earlier, but police didn’t say where he is being held.
They did not give addresses for Mock and Simeone.
There were police at all entrances to the hotel during the standoff and there was a sniper on the roof.
In addition to Liberty police, officers from Youngstown, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Austintown, Warren and the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department are on the scene.
Youngstown police spotted Mock at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Cornersburg area and knew there was a warrant out for him, but he eluded officers. They didn’t say what the warrant was for.