Theft suspect standoff ends in surrender

Yuma police arrested a 40-year-old man being sought for questioning in several burglaries and stolen vehicle cases on Tuesday morning after firing tear gas into a residence where he was holed up for more than three hours.

"He came out on his own without further incident," said Sgt. Clint Norred, spokesman for the Yuma Police Department.

Michael McCormick surrendered to police at about 3:58 p.m. and was taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries and chemical exposure. Then McCormick, who will make his initial appearance in Yuma Justice Court on Wednesday, was transported to the Yuma Police Department.

The standoff originally began at the Torch Lite Lodge, 2501 S. 4th Ave., at about 7 a.m. Tuesday before eventually moving to a mobile home park just southeast of the hotel.

Norred said detectives were working McCormick's case Tuesday morning and followed up on some leads that led them to the motel, where McCormick was discovered to be staying.

Since McCormick was possibly armed, YPD's Special Enforcement Team and Hostage Negotiation Team also responded to the scene and established a perimeter around the building.

The Torch Lite Lodge was evacuated, and several side streets and businesses were closed or access was restricted. A YPD armored personnel vehicle also responded to the scene, parking on the road behind the motel.

Norred said officers made contact with McCormick by calling his room, but he was uncooperative and refused to surrender.

As the Special Enforcement Team was trying capture McCormick, Norred said, he broke through the roof of the motel room he was staying in and fled east to the Yuma Home Park, 2550 S. Virginia Drive.

While on the motel's roof, McCormick was spotted by a witness, who alerted police to his position.

"I yelled out to the police he was on the roof and they went after him," said the witness, whose name is Bob and is an employee of Bubba's, a nearby restaurant.

According to the witness, at about 1 p.m., McCormick dropped down from the motel roof and onto the roof of a utility room that was connected to the motel.

From there, McCormick was able to jump to the ground and run into the Yuma Home Park, where he broke into a trailer home and continued his standoff with police.

Norred said an adult female in the motel room with McCormick also had to be treated for minor injuries and chemical exposure.

"Her involvement in this is still under investigation," Norred said.

After trying unsuccessfully for several hours to convince McCormick to surrender, police fired several tear gas canisters into his motel room  through a window on the backside of the motel.

Police once again set up a perimeter around the mobile home that McCormick had broken into, and using a megaphone, tried to talk him into surrendering peacefully.

Residents and in the area were advised to lock their doors, stay away from windows and wait until police told them it was safe to leave their homes.

After several more hours, police began firing tear gas canisters into the mobile home McCormick was holed up in.

In addition to being sought for questioning in Yuma, McCormick has an outstanding felony warrant out of Mohave County in reference to burglaries.