 | Neighborhood of standoff | 2400 Madison Ave., Yuma AZ 85364 |
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Neighborhood standoff ends without arrest
A more than five-hour police standoff Friday that closed off a residential neighborhood ended without an arrest.
The standoff started at about 9:05 a.m. when Yuma police were called to a residence in the 2500 block of Madison Avenue for a civil standby request.
The officer who arrived on scene was told that a suspect being sought by Yuma police for an aggravated assault involving a firearm last month may be inside the residence.
"The officer had reason to believe the suspect was inside and backed off," said Sgt. Clint Norred, spokesman for the Yuma Police Department. "Additional units were then called to the scene."
The suspect, who police thought may have been armed, was identified as 27-year-old Jessie Uvalles. He was then contacted by cell phone and was uncooperative.
Yuma police cordoned off a one-block radius of the home and either evacuated or made sure some of the adjacent houses were unoccupied.
The YPD Special Enforcement Team was called to the scene just after 11:30 a.m. and began using a megaphone in an attempt to coax Uvalles from the home.
"We got ahold of him and he was uncooperative," Norred said at the time. "We are trying to communicate with him now in an attempt to make him come out."
Police finally entered the home around 2:30 p.m. but did not find Uvalles. Neighbors were allowed back into their homes as officers cleared the scene.
Anyone with information on Uvalles' location is asked to call YPD at 373-4700 or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous. He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 180 pounds.
In July 2004, Uvalles was sentenced to five years in prison for trying to rob a Yuma convenience store. During the robbery attempt, Uvalles pulled a sawed-off shotgun, pointed it at the clerk and demanded money.
However, before he got any money, he fired the shotgun, hitting the clerk in the face and upper neck with pellets, causing non-life-threatening injuries. Uvalles left the store without getting any money.
James Gilbert can be reached at
jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.
