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Man in Custody After Three-Hour Standoff

By: KNWA News

Updated: March 15, 2013

"We've known him throughout the years and he's kind of a radical neighbor," says Jennifer Cox, who lives near the scene of where a standoff occurred Thursday in Benton county.

Residents of Stoney Hollow Road say they weren't surprised to see sheriff's deputies at a certain neighbor's doorstep; engaged in a 3-hour standoff.

"Today we came out to serve a warrant along with an order of protection on a Mark Sweiter," says Lt. Randy Allsup with the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities say the warrant stems from a recent domestic dispute between Sweiter and his wife.

"He held his wife against her will, he refused to let her make any 911 phone calls, cut all the lines," Allsup says of the alleged incident that led to the warrant.

"(Sweiter) made an indirect threat that this was the bed that they were going to die in," Allsup says.

As deputies approached Sweiter's home Thursday, the 53-year-old darted back into the house, saying he refused to go back to jail.

"He said he wasn't coming out alive," Allsup says.

The number of cars in the front yard multiplied by the minute, until just before 7 o'clock.

"S.W.A.T. team actually went in, made entry on the house,found him upstairs in the bedroom," Allsup says.

"He might have had some alcohol in his system, he was kind of groggy, they made contact with him and they arrested him without incident...he did however have a shotgun on him at the time."

Officials say Sweiter does have a prior domestic assault charge, they also confirmed his wife and child were not home during Thursday's standoff.

And nearby neighbors know a potentially dangerous situation was avoided in Benton county.

"We have no children at home, but I was afraid for the younger kids that do live here," Cox says.

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