DOVER, Del. - The Dover Police Department says that a domestic incident yesterday led to a vehicle pursuit and barricade, causing extensive traffic delays for Dover commuters.
At about 3:15 p.m. Monday, police responded to a report of a domestic dispute in which an 18-year-old woman was reportedly wielding a knife and threatening another person. When police arrived, the woman was allegedly still in possession of the knife and fled in her car. Police pursued her to Mckee and College Roads where she stopped and officers attempted to take her into custody.
It was then, according to authorities, that the woman again produced a large knife and reversed her car into a police cruiser. She then fled northbound on McKee Road, then south on North Dupont Highway, before stopping in the southbound lanes.
Officers reportedly then approached the car from which the woman said she would harm herself with the knife while refusing to leave the vehicle. An ambulance was called while the north and southbound lanes of North DuPont Highway were closed in the vicinity.
The Dover Police Department’s Crisis Negotiations Team spoke to the woman for about an hour and a half before she exited the vehicle and was taken into custody without any further incident. She was then taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
“It's incidents like this that remind us that we never know what someone is going through and mental health affects everyone,” The Dover Police Department said in a press release. “If you, or someone you now is struggling with mental health issues, reach out to the National Alliance on Mental Illness at 1-800-950-6264, or the Mental Health Association of Delaware at 302-654-6833.”
