Suspect Arrested after Standoff
On 1-15-13 at about 12:15 PM officers responded to a residence in the 400 block of north Thompson Street following reports of a man with a machete that had forced his way into a house and was threatening to kill people inside. When officers arrived the suspect was gone and an area check for him was negative. The suspect was known to the residents as Nicholas Blane, 39 years old, with an AKA of: Bergschneider. Officers attempted to locate Blane over the next two days and at about 4:20 PM on Thursday, 1-17-13, they learned he was possibly at a house in the 1100 block of Merrimac in the City of Hemet, near Sanderson and Eaton. Officers responded and surrounded the house, and the suspect was seen trying to run out the back, but then ran back inside when confronted by officers, and he refused orders to come out.
Patrol officers formed a good perimeter and made numerous attempts to verbally order the suspect out of the house but they received no response. The Hemet & Murrieta Police combined SWAT team was then called in as well as negotiators to try to get Blane to come out and surrender. For many hours the SWAT team and negotiators tried several methods and tactics to get him to surrender, but received no response. Ultimately, chemical agents were deployed inside the house and Blane retreated from his attic hiding space and surrendered to officers in the rear yard. The standoff ended at about midnight.
The Hemet and Murrieta Police Departments have had a joint team for over a decade, combining resources and personnel to better serve both cities in incidents such as this. Hemet Police Captain Rob Webb said, “Our goal is to end events like this peacefully. This was a textbook SWAT operation and our officers’ dedication, professionalism, and training paid off and brought this incident to a successful ending.”
Blane is currently in custody and will be booked into the county jail on charges of 245(a)(1) PC, (assault with a deadly weapon), 459 PC (burglary), 422 PC (terrorists threats), and a violation of probation. His bail is at $60,000.