Standoff suspect charged with six felonies

A criminal complaint was filed Monday in Yuma Justice Court against the man arrested outside his apartment last week following a 3 1/2-hour standoff with police, who were responding to the residence in reference to a domestic violence call.

Jacson Williams, 37, was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart, who informed him that the Yuma County Attorney's Office is alleging in the complaint that he committed six offenses and had charged him with six felonies.

Stewart informed Williams, who appeared with an attorney from the Yuma County Public Defender's office by his side, that he had been charged with three counts of sexual assault per domestic violence, two counts of aggravated assault per domestic violence and one count of kidnapping per domestic violence.

In addition to ordering that Williams' bond remain at $500,000, which he had set for at a previous hearing, Stewart also scheduled his next court date – a preliminary hearing for 4 p.m. on March 8.

Unlike last week, when Williams waived his right to appear during his initial appearance after refusing to follow instructions from detention officers, he seemed calm when he made his appearance in court on Monday.

Last week's standoff began shortly after noon on Wednesday when Yuma police officers tried to question Williams, who was at an apartment in the 2000 block of South 11th Avenue, about a domestic violence incident. However, he refused to speak with police or come out of the apartment.

Yuma police then cordoned off the immediate area and dispatched its Special Enforcement Team to the apartment. Adjacent apartments were temporarily evacuated as SET officers, armed with assault weapons and wearing black ballistic armor and helmets, secured the exterior of the residence Williams was inside.

During the standoff, police used a loudspeaker to urge Williams to leave the home. They also warned Williams they would send in a police dog who “will find you and will bite you” if he failed to come out. Attempts were also made to contact Williams via telephone.

At about 3:43 p.m., Williams and another man, whose identity was not released by police, came out of the apartment and were arrested. Williams was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center for treatment of an unknown medical issue. The second man was transported to YPD to be questioned by detectives to determine if he had any involvement with the standoff or domestic violence incident.

During William's initial appearance last week, which he was not present for, prosecutor Mary White was asked for a basis for the charges against Williams, to which she replied that Williams was the boyfriend of the victim and that he had attacked her in a “very, very violent manner,” breaking at least one of her ribs.

White also told the court that after Williams attacked the victim he allegedly coerced her to go with him to a vacant building where he sexually assaulted her.

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.