Deputy Held Hostage: What Happened

[sara1981]

Deputy Held Hostage: What Happened

Alonzo Gilliam was in a secure, control cell in the basement of the Pulaski County Courthouse when he overpowered Deputy Joyce May.

Gilliam was there for an appearance related to a liquor store robbery in North Little Rock last October.

Click the story links for more about May and to hear from one of Gilliam's family members.

It all happened at 10:00 Friday morning. The courthouse was evacuated and the streets surrounding the area were shut down.

Just over an hour later, the Little Rock Police SWAT Team was able to successfully resolve the incident, without anyone getting hurt.

Police say the weapon was a sharpened Phillips screwdriver with tape wrapped around it and right now, it's unclear how Gilliam got his hands on it.

The sheriff's office says inmates are checked at Pulaski County Jail before they're taken to court. We're also told the buses are routinely searched. For that reason, inmates are not checked at the courthouse.

Kacie Golden works in the courthouse. "I would like to see increased security,” she says. “I mean, we do have the detectors, but a little bit more would be better."

Golden was among the 90 county circuit clerk employees who were evacuated.

She says, "It was just scary - scary and we, everybody wanted to get out and everybody was glad to be out of the building."

However, not everyone was out. It took SWAT team members more than an hour to get Gilliam under control.

Pulaski County Circuit Clerk Pat O'Brien says, "The only thing that's going through my mind is making sure everybody gets out of the building safely."

Fortunately, O’Brien says his employees recently practiced a safety drill and knew exactly what to do.

He says, "A day like today makes them fully understand why we do it, that their security is priority one for me and our plan worked fantastic."

The sheriff's office says Gilliam is faces several charges from Friday’s incident, including aggravated assault and kidnapping.




Jennifer Woody, Reporter
Monika Rued, Web Producer
Created: 4/28/2006 5:17:23 PM
Updated: 4/28/2006 6:17:18 PM

but i will find more stories in my hometown about what happened of him but i watch him on the news its would be more serious as top story!

 

[sara1981]

Deputy Held Hostage: Suspect's Family Talks

As Little Rock police and Pulaski County sheriff's deputies surround the courthouse, SWAT teams enter in hopes to subdue 29-year-old Alonzo Gilliam. At the same time, his family is watching it all unfold on television.

Click the story links for more on what happened at the courthouse and more about the deputy held hostage.

Family member Janice Williams says, “I was resting and I saw the breaking news."

That's when Williams and another family member came to the courthouse. Williams says the man now wanted for kidnapping is not the same Alonzo she knows.

“He don't even have the heart for that. He's sweet as gold,” she says. “He has never caused me or my family nobody harm; he's always helped us out."

However, Williams does admit Gilliam had a rough life and was facing numerous charges.
According to the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department, Gilliam was booked on terroristic assault and battery and two charges of aggravated robbery in January.

That next month, police say Gilliam pulled a knife on a prisoner and was moved to a unit for aggressive inmates. From that, he's facing felony charges for aggravated assault and possession and use of a weapon.

Williams believes Gilliam did not intend on making it out of the courthouse Friday alive.

She says, “Whatever the outcome in court wasn't right, he probably would have tried to end his life."

Williams contends he wouldn't have taken someone else's.

“As far as trying to hurt someone- no," she says.




Stefanie Bryant, Reporter
Created: 4/28/2006 4:24:18 PM
Updated: 4/28/2006 6:22:29 PM

 

[sara1981]

Deputy Held Hostage: Deputy Joyce May

One can only imagine what it must have been like to sit for more than an hour with a sharp blade pressed against your throat. That’s exactly what Deputy Joyce May went through.

May is a 12-year veteran of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department. Her main office is at the Pulaski County Jail, but on a regular basis, she transports inmates back and forth to the courthouse. Friday, though, it was a trip like no other.

Outside the courthouse, the scene was chaotic. SWAT team members and dozens of other officers prepared for the worst. Hundreds of onlookers, evacuated courthouse employees and members of the media waited for word as to what was happening to the deputy being held hostage inside.

Lyndsey Dilks, a courthouse employee, said, "I see her every morning. I know that she has training on how to deal with these situations. I hope that she's just remaining calm."

Click the story links to hear from one of the suspect's family members and more about the events of May's traumatic morning.

Inside a six by seven foot control room underneath the courthouse is where officers say May was held for nearly an hour with a shank to her throat. No one knows for sure what may have been going through her mind during those tense moments, but the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department says she was well trained to handle the situation.

Sgt. Cody Burk explains, "Our deputies receive about three months of training in jail on situations such as this, defensive tactics. They go through the whole course of things that relate to this type of incident."

Moments after her alleged captor surrendered, May, a 55-year-old grandmother was interviewed by investigators then escorted out of the holding area. She was consoled by a fellow deputy and appeared to have been crying.

THV reporter Alyson Courtney asks her, "Deputy, are you OK?"

Getting inside a Pulaski County Jail van, May mouths, "Yes, I’m fine."

May would not discuss any details or say anything more about the ordeal, but instead insisted she just get back to work.

Burk says, "You know, she did the right thing; everything worked out great."

May has been offered counseling services and a leave of absence from the department. Again, she finished the workday Friday and has told her supervisors she will be back at work Monday.

Deputies say they believe this was the first ever hostage situation at the Pulaski County Courthouse.




Alyson Courtney, Reporter
Created: 4/28/2006 5:08:05 PM
Updated: 4/28/2006 6:18:28 PM

 

[sara1981]

Standoff At Pulaski County Courthouse Ends Peacefully

Little Rock police say Alonzo Gilliam took a female sheriff`s deputy hostage with a shank in the basement of the Pulaski County Courthouse this morning. Just after 11am he surrendered to police. Gillum was in court today for robbery and terroristic threatening charges. The deputy is alright. We`ll have more today on KARK 4 News at 5 and 6.

 

[sara1981]

LR Hostage Situation Ends Peacefully

Little Rock - The Little Rock Police Department confirms a suspect who reportedly held a Pulaski County deputy hostage in the basement of the county courthouse this morning has been taken into custody. The situation began around 10:15 this morning and police say there were no injuries.

The suspect, 29-year-old Alonzo Gilliam of North Little Rock, was allegedly armed with a "shank" as a weapon. Authorities say he is an inmate and had been at the courthouse for a hearing. The Pulaski County Sheriff's Department has identified the deputy who was held hostage for a time as Deputy Joyce May. May works in transportation for the department and has been withthe agency since 1994.Gilliam already faced two counts of committing a terroristic act, two felony counts of possession of a firearm, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property, and one count of possession of a weapon in jail.

 

[sara1981]

Update: Pulaski County Hostage Situation

Posted on 4/28/2006 12:58:31 PM
by Nicole Holt




A prisoner who held a Pulaski County sheriff's deputy hostage Friday at the county courthouse surrendered peacefully after nearly an hour of negotiations.

Alonzo Gilliam, 29, of North Little Rock was arrested after he held the female officer hostage in the basement of the courthouse, where prisoners scheduled for court hearings are temporarily held, sheriff's spokesman Cody Burk said.

Deputy Joyce May, a detention officer, was not hurt during the ordeal, according to the sheriff's office.

During negotiations, Little Rock police Officer Jason Roberts said he spoke to Gilliam through a window of a control booth, where Gilliam held the deputy hostage.

"He was just standing next to her the whole time very calm, very collected about everything. It was a real nice conversation," Roberts said.

Roberts said Gilliam was upset about pending criminal cases against him.

"He just felt a little desperate about those things, and I guess it was overwhelming for him today and he let it get the best of him," Roberts said.

Roberts said that most of the time, Gilliam stood with a makeshift knife at his side and did not threaten the hostage.

"He just kind of bowed his head a little bit, and thought, and started to do everything he needed to do to come on out," Roberts said. "Once he came out, he was very apologetic and we had no problems with him."

The suspect handcuffed himself before coming out and he left the hostage in the booth, Roberts said.

Gilliam was to appear before Judge Marion Humphrey for a hearing when he broke free and took the deputy hostage, Burk said. Gilliam had been in custody on charges including terroristic acts, possession of a firearm, theft of property and one count of possession of a weapon in jail. Gilliam has two previous convictions for aggravated robbery.

After the officer was taken hostage, the courthouse was evacuated and a SWAT team negotiated with the suspect before he was arrested.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)