Lycoming County standoff ends peacefully
Dave Kennedy/Sun-Gazette
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WILLIAMSPORT – A lengthy standoff at a Lycoming County apartment complex ended peacefully Monday afternoon when a pregnant woman who was reportedly being held hostage by her boyfriend was released.
Rynell Brooks-Brown, 20, of Philadelphia, faces numerous charges following the more than four-hour standoff with police at the Timberland Apartment complex in the 500 block of Lycoming Street in Williamsport.
The woman told police that she and Brooks-Brown had been arguing Sunday night in her apartment. He was consuming alcohol, according to court documents, and eventually fell asleep on the couch.
The argument continued Monday morning. While she was in an upstairs bathroom, “Brooks-Brown placed himself in front of the doorway and pointed a gun at her. He then threatened the woman, saying, ‘You need to stop playing with me before I (expletive) hurt you,'” the affidavit stated.
She told police she managed to shove Brooks-Brown out of the bathroom, shut the door and lock it. The woman then used her cellphone to call a coworker, who called 911.
When officers arrived, they saw Brooks-Brown “looking out a first-floor window to the apartment, but he refused to answer the door,” court paperwork states.
The Williamsport Special Response Team responded and was joined later by a second tactical police team from Columbia County.
The woman told police she could hear Brooks-Brown “pacing back and forth in the apartment. He wanted her to come (out of the bathroom) and tell police that she was fine, but she felt it was unsafe,” police said.
After about an hour, she fled the bathroom into a bedroom. Her boyfriend took her phone from her and followed her downstairs into another bathroom, police said. He then blocked the only door to the apartment, and the woman remained in the bathroom, fearing for her safety, according to police.
The standoff ended peacefully about 2:10 p.m. after the woman came out of the unit. About 10 minutes later, Brooks-Brown exited the apartment with his hands behind his head.
Officers obtained a search warrant and recovered a loaded handgun in the apartment.
Brooks-Brown faces charges of terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, possessing an instrument of crime, false imprisonment, recklessly endangering, simple assault, and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned before District Judge Kirsten Gardner and jailed in the Lycoming County Prison on $300,000 bail.