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Capt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office said Richard P. Danko, age 36, of Dover Plains, was charged following a complaint and an hours-long standoff at his residence on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1 in Dover Plains.
According to Watterson, deputies responded to 16 Old State Route 22 at around 6:10 a.m. after receiving a report of a person being threatened with a shotgun. When they arrived, Danko was identified as a suspect but refused to cooperate with law enforcement and fled into the residence.
For the next five hours, crisis negotiators attempted to persuade Danko to surrender without success.
Watterson said that eventually, members of the Emergency Services Unit entered the residence and took him into custody without further incident.
In addition to the standoff, Watterson said Danko was already wanted on a warrant for reckless endangerment stemming from a prior, unrelated incident.
He now faces multiple charges, including criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal contempt in the second degree, menacing in the second degree, resisting arrest, and bail jumping.
After being processed, Danko was arraigned in the town of Dover Court on the warrant and bail jumping charges and was remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center in place of $10,000 cash bail. The additional charges were filed after his arraignment.
The New York State Police, the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response, and the J.H. Ketcham Hose Company also assisted.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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