Soap Lake man arrested after standoff

SOAP LAKE — Joseph Loan, 67, of Soap Lake is in custody after a six-hour standoff with law enforcement in Soap Lake.

Loan is facing four charges after barricading himself inside his trailer in Soap Lake Monday night. Loan has been charged with two counts of attempted assault 1 on law enforcement and two counts of felony harassment threats to kill.

Soap Lake Police Chief Ryan Cox said he had received a report around 5 p.m. Monday that Loan was blocking traffic. By the time he arrived on the scene, another call had come in from Loan’s neighbor claiming that Loan had threatened to kill their family. Cox said he attempted to talk to Loan but the suspect didn’t want to talk to Cox and was yelling at him. At that point Cox went and spoke to the neighbor that had reported the threats and said they believed Loan would carry those threats out.

“That gives us enough probable cause for arresting (on) harassment threats to kill, and because he has previous convictions, it now makes it a felony level,” said Cox.

When Cox returned to talk to Loan, he said Loan was inside his home, yelling and refusing to come out.

Cox said Loan then threatened to shoot and blow up a Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy that was on the scene along with Cox after he was notified he was under arrest.

“That's when we retreated due to his history, his mental state and how unpredictable he is,” Cox said.

The Tactical Response Team which is made up of various regional law enforcement was then called in to assist with the situation, Cox said.

Law enforcement eventually launched flash bangs and tear gas into the home before breaking out windows to ventilate the residence before they forced entry.

Cox said the standoff wrapped up close to midnight when Loan was taken into custody. He was transported to the hospital before being booked into the Grant County Jail.

The arrest was made through the cooperation of Moses Lake Tactical Response Team, Grant County Sheriff’s Office negotiators, Soap Lake Police Department and Grant County Mental Health, Cox said.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.