Columbus police, firefighters brave bullets, flames as hours-long standoff ends

Columbus police and firefighters braved flames and bullets Monday to end a standoff with a SWAT team capturing a woman unharmed after she held officers at bay for five hours.

Authorities said they were called at 10:44 a.m. to a house in the 1300 block of 20th Street after the woman shot at her husband during a dispute, prompting him to flee the home with two dogs. Police converged on the house where the woman shot at them and refused to come out.

A police negotiator could be heard pleading with her over a loudspeaker Monday afternoon.

“Rhonda, come on out now. ... Nobody wants anyone to get hurt here today, especially you,” the female negotiator said. “We are not going anywhere. We are not going to hurt you, but you have to come out.”

The standoff escalated when police deployed the SWAT team. “They tried to get the woman to come out of the house, at which time shots were fired in the presence of the officers that were outside at the scene,” said police Maj. J.D. Hawk. “The officers then tried to make entry, at which time the individual inside ignited a fire in the residence.”

As smoke billowed out, the SWAT team used a fire hose on flames at the front of the house police had encircled.

“At that time, while officers were attempting to put out the fire, shots were fired at the officers, and also a firefighter, and they continued to fight the blaze,” Hawk told reporters after the standoff ended.

As more smoke came from the house at 3:25 p.m., the negotiator’s voice got more strident: “Come on, Rhonda! You need to get out!”

The negotiator continued to plead as authorities moved in: “Come on, Rhonda! You need to get out! ... Come on sweetheart. Come on out, honey. Come on out. We hear you. We know you’re OK.”

Those pleas were followed by a series of loud bangs.

Hawk said some of the noise bystanders could hear were gunshots, some were gas grenades police used to try to force the woman out, and others were ammunition the fire set off inside the house. Police not only could hear cartridges exploding, but also bullets whizzing by, he said.

Still they persisted, until finally the woman came out. Her surrender allowed firefighters to go into the smoke-filled house without fear of getting shot.

Columbus Fire Marshal Ricky Shores said a fire department arson investigator is in the SWAT team, and that’s likely who came under fire with other officers. The fire department deployed several units, but most comprised the standard response to any house fire, he said.

The situation was resolved by about 4 p.m. No one seriously was injured, but some police and firefighters suffered smoke inhalation, Hawk said.

The woman will be charged with second-degree arson, several counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and at least one count of aggravated assault on the husband, Hawk said.

Relatives at the scene identified her as 64-year-old Rhonda Jodean Crute, a name Hawk confirmed. They said she and her husband got into an argument that escalated into the ensuing standoff. Crute has a mental condition for which she should have been taking medication, but was not, the family said.

Crute was booked Monday evening into the Muscogee County Jail. Her preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

The Ledger-Enquirer delayed reporting this story online to avoid escalating the danger to those on the scene.

This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 4:22 PM.