Standoff with ‘agitated’ man at Columbia laundromat ends with an arrest
A standoff at a local laundromat between Columbia police, Illinois State Police and a troubled 30-year-old man ended with an arrest Tuesday night.
Matthew Lane, of Columbia, was taken into custody at about 8:30 p.m. and is being held at the Monroe County Jail.
Police said earlier during the standoff that someone had called police to report that Lane was troubled and had gone missing.
Two Columbia police officers dispatched to perform a welfare check located Lane at Big Al’s Dirty Laundry, located at 125 West Locust Street in Columbia. Lane appeared agitated and barricaded himself in a bathroom inside the laundromat, said Columbia Police Chief Jerry Paul.
No one else was in the laundromat at the time.
Police closed streets in the vicinity of Big Al’s and evacuated other businesses within the perimeter, including those that were housed in the same building as the laundromat. They called in an ambulance and an Illinois State Police SWAT team. Four and a half hours later, Lane surrendered without incident.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, Columbia Fire Department and Waterloo and Dupo police departments assisted in the standoff.
Illinois State Police crime scene unit processed the scene for additional evidence Tuesday night.
Paul would not say if Lane was armed or not.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 5:52 PM.
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