News
BREAKING NEWS: Hostage Situation Domestic Dispute
At 1:55 PM Seattle Police responded to a domestic disturbance in the Cottage Grove neighborhood in West Seattle, after they received a call from Terry Wendt that his “ex-boyfriend [was] destroying his car.”
After Wendt refused to go out and purchase beer and cigarettes for his domestic partner, Robert James, he went outside to mow his front lawn. James came outside and began to stomp on the lawnmower before picking up several bricks and throwing them through Wendt’s BMW’s windows. James then then used an ax to smash the body and windshield of the car.
James then ran back into the house that he rents with Wendt and two other tenants, barricading himself in the basement.
Patrol officers arrived at the house on Delridge and SW Brandon and cordoned of the block. A negotiator and the SWAT team arrived and spent the next 3 hours attempting to coax James out of the house, eventually firing tear gas canisters through several windows in an attempt to force him out. There were early reports that he had taken hostages, but SPD confirmed that James was alone in the basement and was not in possession of any firearms. James surrendered to police and is currently being held at the southwest precinct.
Terry Wendt
According to Wendt, “this was at least the fifth or sixth time” James had been arrested for a violent outburst. There was a no-contact order in place between the couple and James had completed a four month jail sentence last November for violating the order. James was staying with Wendt because, he says “I couldn’t turn him out on the street.”
Wendt says that James battered his BMW because “he knew that I loved my car. He couldn’t stand for me to leave the relationship with the car [intact],” adding that “It’s just a car really. I can go back to riding a bicycle.”
As the police tape came down and the news crews drove off, Wendt returned to mowing his lawn.
Comments (23)
Sounds like it might already be over with.West Seattle Blog has more details including why that axe is stuck in that BMW's windshield.
Posted by j | April 26, 2007 6:03 PMBTW, the BMW photo somehow made it into Jen Graves' Two Art Books post from yesterday.
Posted by keshmeshi | April 26, 2007 6:44 PMand its gay dudes, they are going to blame it on the dp bill.
Posted by something else | April 26, 2007 7:33 PMIf they were hetero, I suspect this story would end up in Dan's "Every child needs a mother and father" series.
Posted by chunkstyle | April 26, 2007 8:43 PMCan someone get this guy some help? He sounds remarkably like some of the women I've known... I can only hope his partner gets locked up for a while.
Posted by wench | April 26, 2007 8:47 PMYours is a bullshit comment, chunkstyle. Now, if the BMW had been a baby in a microwave...
In other news, SO MANY GAY GUYS NAMED TERRY! I have *never* met a straight guy named Terry, but at least half a dozen gay ones.
Moral: BMWs look sexy even after axe attacks.
Posted by sniggles | April 26, 2007 8:57 PMAnd wench: totally.
Posted by sniggles | April 26, 2007 8:58 PMSadly the *hammer song* seems to have nothing to do with the altercation. Nor is there any mention of the shining. Where's the camp? What kind of gay people are these? Oh yeah, West Seattle. Never mind.
Posted by kinaidos | April 26, 2007 9:22 PMOh man, I laughed at the last line about him just going back to mowing his lawn.
Lawn ain't gonna mow itself!
Hahaha.
Posted by Jordyn | April 26, 2007 9:40 PMReal Reality: A guy beats up a lawn mower and a car and retreats to the basement to sulk.
The Other Reality: A gun wielding maniac abducts several construction workers and holds them hostage in his basement. Various commentators lament the proliferation of guns, maniacs, construction workers, and basements in our troubled society. TSG reports the BMW's tabs had expired, and suggests the car got what it deserved. Terry signs huge contract to promote a new line of Toro boot-resistant lawnmowers. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wins awards for death defying coverage.
Posted by Sean | April 26, 2007 10:40 PMWhat? You mean they weren't arguing about where the Gay Pride Parade should be held? I thought that was what everyone cared about this week! Apparently these two don't read "Seattle's Only Newspaper."
Posted by Snagglepuss | April 26, 2007 11:38 PMidiot. battered domestic partner syndrom or whatever. if he is going to get a no contact order, he needs to fucking follow it himself. sadly, we deal with this everyday at the state attorney's office. once it gets to a felony battery, and there are 9 dropped misdemeanor cases, then they victim suddenly wants to help us out.
Posted by konstantConsumer | April 27, 2007 6:29 AMMy boyfriend's name is Terry, and he doesn't care where the Pride Parade is--they can hold it on our bathroom, he says, but he's still not going.
Posted by Dan Savage | April 27, 2007 7:16 AMThank god these two did not have the right to marry.
Posted by rufus | April 27, 2007 7:25 AMGood work Jonah.
Posted by ivan | April 27, 2007 7:45 AMA gay domestic violence? Yay! We're catching up after all. Now can we get married Mr. Dobson, pretty please?
Posted by Sean | April 27, 2007 8:19 AM“WestSeattleMag.com” has the photos.
The “WestSeattleMag.com” is new online magazine with a photojournalistic approach to covering West Seattle.
Posted by Matt Durham | April 27, 2007 8:29 AMExperience: Published in SF Examiner and Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Seattle P.I., Times, Seattle Weekly, Stranger and W.S. Herald.
The guy that sits in front of us at the M's games is named Terry and he is straight. Dan Savage has a bathroom big enough to hold gay pride? Damn, I have to turn slightly sideways to get by my sink.
Posted by jamesb | April 27, 2007 8:29 AMThis is news?
Posted by Mr. Poe | April 27, 2007 8:34 AMif you get a restraining order, follow it.
Posted by infrequent | April 27, 2007 10:32 AMand what's with the derogatory comment about West Seattle, kinaidos? You got something against West Seattle? Out with it....
Posted by Jan | April 27, 2007 12:06 PMSince I live in this neighbourhood and was witness to the entire fiasco, I have to confess, my gaydar was dead with these two, never suspected they were gay much less boyfriends. Oh the shame on me!! LOL
Posted by Matthew | April 27, 2007 12:18 PMSeriously, it was a very scary scene watching the guy wail on the bmw with the axe, and then to have an army of policemen and swat teams firing canisters of tear gas......what a great afternoon!! My dogs thought it was the 4th of July!!
Today, Mr. Wendt is out in his yard doing work, cleaning up, going about his business..... I feel just awful for him, I wanna make him a casserole or something....take it over there and tell him how sorry I am that this had to happen to him. We've all had our relationship spats and problems and its just awful that it had to escalate to what it did.
Oh and Jonah, YOU ROCK!! Thank you for covering this!! I had no idea what the whole story was until you took my pics and posted the story, THANK YOU!!!
agenzia casting
Posted by Ambrose | May 7, 2007 6:04 PMComments Closed
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