A Penn Township man peacefully surrendered to police Thursday after a state police special response team took action to end a standoff that began a night earlier, authorities said.
James Kassimatis, 51, came out of his Center Street house in Harrison City around 2 p.m., township police Chief John Otto said. The suspect did have weapons in the house, Otto said.
Kassimatis was charged with violating a court order of protection from abuse and placed in the Westmoreland County Prison, in lieu of $5,000 bond, Otto said. He was arraigned before East Huntingdon District Judge Charles Moore Thursday night, Otto said.
The ordeal began Wednesday when the man’s wife discovered he was in the residence after she had obtained a protection from abuse order against him, Otto said. An argument ensued with the wife leaving with her children. Police were contacted between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Otto said.
Township police, with assistance from Jeannette and Manor police departments, determined the man was in the house Wednesday night but he refused to leave, Otto said.
Otto said he believed that the suspect “was not capable of making a good decision (Wednesday) night” to leave the house, so “we decided to let it cool down over night.”
“We had information he had multiple firearms,” Otto said.
When the man did not leave the house in the morning, Otto said the state police team was called to help.
The special emergency response team arrived about noon, Otto said. A tight inner perimeter was set up around the house and neighbors in a three-to-four block area were given the chance to evacuate before the SERT unit took action, the chief said.
Otto said he believed the presence of the SERT unit convinced Kassimatis to surrender.
