Standoff suspect charged with three felonies

The Yuma man who allegedly attacked a woman and her 8-year-old child with a box cutter before being in a five-hour standoff with police was charged with three felonies Thursday afternoon.

During a brief hearing in Yuma Justice Court, Judge Greg Stewart informed 36-year-old Chad Diener that a criminal complaint charged him with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument and one count of aggravated assault/an adult upon a minor.

As he did in a previous hearing, Diener said he was mentally ill, to which Stewart replied that the court was aware of his condition and that he would be assigned a court-appointed attorney who would address the matter in determining whether the case should move forward.

Stewart also informed Diener that prosecutors were requesting a bond modification to lower it to $250,000. However, since no prosecutors were present in the courtroom to discuss the details of the case, Stewart declined to lower the bond, ordering it remain at the $400,000 set at during a previous hearing.

The judge set Diener's next court date, a preliminary hearing, for 4 p.m. Oct. 12.

Yuma police responded to 2550 S. Virginia Drive at about 7 p.m. Monday for a report of an aggravated assault. Officers later learned that Diener allegedly approached a 40-year-old woman while making sexual comments.

According to police, when the woman refused to talk with Diener about his remarks, he became agitated. At that point, police say, the woman's 8-year-old son tried to get Diener to leave them alone. Diener began to wave a box cutter at the child.

Police say the mother jumped between her son and Diener and was knocked to the ground and received non-life-threatening injuries from the blade and from strikes delivered from Diener. Witnesses chased Diener to a nearby residence and stood by until officers arrived.

Officers closed off all north- and southbound traffic on Virginia Drive from the 2500 block to the 2600 block and evacuated several homes near the southeast corner of a Yuma home park.

Diener refused to come out of the home. Officers could be heard warning Diener over a loudspeaker system that if he didn't, a canine officer would be sent in, adding, “He will find you and he will bite you.”

Finally at about 1 a.m., members of Yuma Police Department's Special Enforcement Team broke a front window and took Diener into custody.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.