Standoff ends peacefully

Aug. 10—RUSHVILLE — A section of W. First Street in Rushville was closed to traffic for several hours Tuesday afternoon as officers from the Rushville Police Department and the Indiana State Police attempted to serve a warrant on and arrest a Shelby County man who refused to come out of the residence in which he was located.

According to RPD Chief Craig Tucker, a domestic disturbance was reported Monday evening in the 500 block of W. First Street. By the time officers arrived the male subject involved had vacated the premises and was nowhere to be found.

Tuesday morning the male subject returned to the residence, which is where his ex-wife lives, and continued to cause a disturbance.

As the result of Monday night's dispute, a warrant for intimidation had already been prepared and on Tuesday officers returned to arrest the male, who has been identified as Joshua Elliott, 37, of Shelby County.

"When officers got there it became apparent that he was not going to come out for us," Chief Tucker said.

The RPD then requested assistance from the Indiana State Police, who responded with their Emergency Response Team.

Chief Tucker said several attempts were made to get Elliott to surrender peacefully but he refused.

Eventually, a window of the home was broken to facilitate better communication between officers and Elliott and he was taken into custody.

"Nobody was injured, there was never at any time any shots fired, and there were no hostages of any kind," Chief Tucker said.

Tucker also said teargas was not employed because the law enforcement officers on the scene wanted the occupant of the residence to be able to return to her home as quickly as possible without having to clean up residual chemicals first.

In addition to intimidation, Elliott was preliminarily charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice, the chief said.

Kevin Green: kevin.green@greensburgdailynews.com or 812-651-0885.