Two-hour police standoff leads to Columbus man’s arrest

A Columbus man is under arrest after a more than two-hour long standoff with police Thursday afternoon.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers were called to the 700 block of California Street at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon to check on the wellness of a person making threats at a home. Police spoke to the man in the home, 50-year-old Michael Downs, who allegedly told police he was armed and threatened the officers.

Officers stepped away from the home, blocked off nearby streets and called in the city/county SWAT team and Columbus police negotiators. Despite attempts to talk Downs into leaving the home, he refused. Eventually, SWAT officers deployed tear gas in the home and at about 5:50 p.m. in the evening, Downs surrendered.

He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out and then to jail on a preliminary felony charge of intimidation.