(Credit: Doorbell camera footage, anonymous)
MILLCREEK – A Millcreek father is thankful a spat between his kids and a neighbor didn’t turn deadly. It led to a standoff between a suspect and SWAT officers which lasted for hours on Sunday.
Chris Ollerton’s two sons, Gavin, 6, and Ryder, 9, were riding their small dirt bikes up and down the hill of Troy Way in Millcreek on Sunday. Some people may consider the bikes to be noisy, but, Ollerton says they’re no louder than a weed whacker or a lawn mower. However, as the boys approached Gordon Avenue, they were stopped by Richard Lindem, who lives a short block away.
Doorbell video from a nearby resident shows Lindem confronting the two boys, and he became physical.
“He punched my six-year-old. He was sitting on his dirt bike and he had a bicycle helmet on, but, [Lindem gave him an] uppercut hook and punched him in the side of the head,” Ollerton says.
He admits the “over-protective dad” came out as soon as he son Lindem strike his son.
Ollerton says, “Immediately I started sprinting toward him. I had every intention of tackling the guy and beating the crap out of him, to be honest.”
However, as Ollerton got closer, he says Lindem reached to his back and pulled out a handgun. After that, he says he no longer wanted to fight. He just wanted Lindem to calm down so he could protect his boys.
“As soon as he had the gun at me, I yelled at my boys, ‘Run home, as fast as you can. Get in the house and lock the door,’” he says.
For several seconds, Ollerton and Lindem just stared at each other while the gun was still being pointed. He claims Lindem started to back away to his own home and Ollerton followed form a safe distance, just so he could see where he should tell the police to go.
However, Ollerton says, “I also pulled my phone out to record just for evidence, but he got frustrated about that, and, at that point, actually fired a shot at me.”
He says he heard two more shots as he was walking home. Police when to Lindem’s home, where he held SWAT teams at bay for a couple hours. Lindem doesn’t have a criminal history, but officers say he was highly intoxicated when he finally surrendered to police.