UPDATE: Dodge Center Standoff Ends Peacefully
UPDATE (11/22/21 5:30 PM): A police standoff that began Monday in Dodge Center has come to a peaceful end.
The Dodge County Sheriff's Office released this information late Monday afternoon:
At approximately 1119am, on November 22, 2021, in Dodge County, MN, deputies responded to 512 3rd Avenue NW in the City of Dodge Center regarding a male who was threatening to shoot a female if she didn’t leave the residence. When the Deputy arrived, he spoke to a female subject who stated that she and two other family members were trying to get 65-year-old John Lentz to go to St Mary’s Hospital
to be evaluated as he seemed off and has a history of mental illness. The Deputy then spoke to Lentz’s roommate who explained he observed Lentz holding his dog down on
the floor, so he pushed Lentz’s hands up to release him from the dog.
According to the roommate, Lentz released the dog and then went after him and a placed a chokehold on him. During the choke hold, the roommate felt his airway being obstructed and he was having difficulty breathing. The roommate was able to push Lentz off of him, but Lentz retaliated by striking him repeatedly on the left side of the face. The roommate was able to get Lentz’s secured in a bedroom when they heard Lentz opening the gun safe. They continued to plead with Lentz to let them take him to St. Mary’s Hospital, but Lentz refused. Lentz then stated that if the female did not get out of his house he would shoot her. Both subjects fled the home and observed, through the window Lentz holding a long gun
The Sheriff’s Office then requested assistance from surrounding agencies, the Triton School District was placed on a soft lockdown, and deputies started going door to door evacuating the neighborhood and secured a 6-block area around Lentz’s home. Dodge County requested assistance from the Kasson Police Department, Minnesota State Patrol, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, Olmsted/Rochester ERU, and Dodge Center Fire and Ambulance. At approximately 1240pm, Lentz walked out his door, threatened officers again, and then walked back inside. Olmsted/Rochester ERU arrived on scene to assist at approximately 207pm and coordinated with Dodge County Deputies inside the secured area.
ERU deployed both drone and robot technology in an attempt to get Lentz to take a cell phone to talk to a negotiator. At 336pm, after unsuccessfully trying to get Lentz to communicate by cell phone, the ERU deployed a distraction device into the home in an attempt to encourage Lentz to cooperate. They received no response.
At approximately 430pm, the honorable Judge Jodi Williamson signed a search warrant for Lentz’s residence. A complaint warrant for Lentz’s arrest had already been issued earlier by Judge Williamson for the felony domestic assault by strangulation, terroristic threats, and 5th-degree MSD assault.
At 436pm, the ERU breached the windows on the SE side of the home to get Lentz to respond to them. While they could still see Lentz walking around inside, he continued to refuse to respond to their commands to come out.
At approximately 452pm, after a third window was breeched, Lentz came out and turned himself in. He was taken into custody and transported to St Marys Hospital for evaluation. Lentz will be held for court on his charges.
original story:
Dodge Center, MN (KROC AM News) - A tense domestic situation has been underway in Dodge Center since late Monday morning.
Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose says the incident began just after 11:00 am at a residence in the 500 block of 3rd Ave NW.
A 65-year-old man at the residence became upset at family members and reportedly choked one before they were able to leave. Rose says the man was seen with a rifle and had threatened to shoot anyone who came to the house.
Rose says the man briefly came out of the house around 12:30 pm and warned law enforcement personnel to stay away.
Rose says there has been no communication with the man since then. He says it appears the man is suffering from some type of crisis and his office isn’t aware of his medical history.
Rose says the surrounding neighborhood was evacuated and the public is being asked to stay away from the area. Triton schools went into a soft lockdown as a precaution.