During a three-hour standoff on Saturday with Portage Police, Charles Joseph Murphy is accused of posting on Facebook that he placed propane gas tanks by the front door and turned on the gas stove.
If officers came through the door, Murphy, 39, told officers they would “go up in flames.”
In addition, Murphy also allegedly pointed a shotgun at officers and threatened to shoot, court records show.
As a result, Murphy now faces two Level 5 felony charges of intimidation. The Porter County Prosecutor’s Office also filed two Level 6 felony charges of resisting law enforcement and domestic battery involving moderate bodily injury, along with two additional misdemeanors.
A female relative, who called police to her Dutch Mill Street house, had been grabbed by her ponytail and dragged down the stairs, a probable cause statement says.
She managed to get out of the house, but Murphy had used his knife to puncture all four tires on her car, court records said. The female relative suspects that Murphy has undiagnosed mental issues.
Portage’s SWAT team ended the standoff by firing a chemical agent into the house. An officer also fired a non-lethal impact projectile at Murphy when he refused to surrender.
An initial hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Wednesday before Judge Jeffrey Clymer in Porter Superior Court 2. Murphy is being held in the Porter County Jail.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.