A 56-hour standoff with a homicide suspect perched on a construction crane ended peacefully early Saturday when police shocked him with a stun gun as he reached for a cup of water, authorities said.
“Apparently, he was thirsty,” police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said.
Carl Edward Roland, 41, got onto the 18-story crane around 5 p.m. Wednesday and told police he was thinking of killing himself by jumping, authorities said.
The standoff unfolded above Atlanta’s busy Buckhead neighborhood, an area filled with clubs and restaurants. Lunch and dinner crowds, taking advantage of summer-like weather, have packed restaurant patios with clear views of the standoff.
Roland was wanted by the Pinellas County, Fla., sheriff’s department in the death of ex-girlfriend Jennifer L. Gonzalez, 36, whose body found Tuesday. An arrest warrant affidavit accuses Roland of strangling Gonzalez and dumping her body in a pond behind the apartment complex where she lived.
Two days earlier, Roland told acquaintances he believed Gonzalez was cheating on him and asked them if they could get him a firearm so he could kill her, according to the affidavit.
Accepted jacket, rejected food and water
During the standoff negotiations, Roland accepted a jacket from police, which he used to beat back the chill at night and the sun during the day, but he refused offers of food and water.
But early Saturday, Roland stepped toward an officer to get some water, and the officer used a Taser on him, said Alan Dreher, Atlanta’s assistant police chief.
Roland showed mixed emotions during the negotiations, Dreher said.
“At times he was calm. At times he was cordial. At times he was irate. At times he was argumentative. It just depended on the situation,” he said.
Roland was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and police expected to charge him with crimes in Atlanta and Florida. Hospital officials said he was in good condition.
Since March, the Clearwater, Fla., man had quit his job as a software salesman and filed for bankruptcy. Roland said he owed $10,500 in federal taxes and more than $13,000 on credit cards, court records show.