Police Negotiate for Hours During Royalton Roof Standoff

ROYALTON (WJON News) -- A Royalton man's standoff with police on Wednesday caused an elementary school to go into lockdown.

The Royalton Police Department went to the home of 37-year-old Reed Clark to arrest him on several outstanding warrants. When officers made contact with Clark, he was inside a fenced-in yard. Clark fled from the officer, climbed onto the roof of his house, and refused to come down.

Due to the proximity of nearby Royalton Elementary, Police Chief Jason McDonald asked the school to go into a lockdown. Classes continued as scheduled, and arrangements were made to allow students to safely leave school at the end of the day.

As negotiations continued, the Morrison County Sheriff's Office SWAT, Little Falls Police Department, and Stearns/Benton SWAT were called in to assist.

After several hours of negotiations, officers deployed multiple rounds of chemical irritants to try to get Clark to come down.

At around 9:00 p.m., Clark tried to jump from the roof to a shed and escape. As officers closed in, Clark again climbed onto the roof while hurting his arm in the process. Authorities say he then complied with orders and climbed down a ladder.

Clark was brought to the hospital in Little Falls for treatment before being booked into the Morrison County Jail.

Clark was wanted on several charges, including fleeing police, obstruction, drug possession, and DWI.