Charges filed against man involved in police standoff in Columbia
The man who was arrested after a 4 1/2-hour standoff with police in Columbia on Tuesday has been charged with multiple felonies.
On Thursday, the Monroe County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Matthew Lane, 30, with two counts each of threatening a public official and aggravated assault on a peace officer.
Three additional weapons charges have since been dropped, Monroe County State’s Attorney Chris Hitzemann said, because Lane was not armed at the time of the incident.
Police were dispatched on a welfare check of Lane after a caller reported that he had disappeared and was “agitated.” Officers located him at Big Al’s Laundry, located at 125 West Locust Street, at 3 p.m., Columbia Police Chief Jerry Paul said. No one else was at the laundromat at the time.
Police closed streets in the vicinity and evacuated other businesses in the area, Paul said. The Illinois State Police SWAT team was called in, and Lane surrendered without incident around 8:30 p.m. He was taken into police custody and transported to Monroe County Jail.
According to Madison County Court records, Lane was found guilty of one count of attempted murder in 2012. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time that the Lane was accused of driving a stolen car at a Wood River police officer. Lane was shot by the police officer in the incident, but the officer’s actions were justified, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office decided.
Lane was sentenced to serve 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the crime, but was discharged on Aug. 27, as the sentence was expired, IDOC records show. It is unknown why the sentence was vacated.
Lane’s bail was $250,000. He remained in police custody Thursday.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 1:47 PM.
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