Lansing police arrest man who held woman, baby hostage

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A 24-year-old Lansing man is in custody Friday after police say he held a woman and infant hostage in a home and threatened to set the house on fire.

Lansing Police Department officers responded around 6:45 Thursday night to the 1500 block of North Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., for “a troubled subject.”

After reaching the scene, officers learned the woman and infant were inside the house “being held against their will” with a man threatening to set the house on fire, LPD spokesperson Jordan Gulkis said Friday.

Threats of setting the house on fire continued leading to police asking Consumers Energy to shut off gas for the block as a safety precaution, Gulkis said.

As a result, more than 50 people on the block did not have gas for part of the night.

After police negotiators spoke to the suspect at length, around 1:30 a.m. he let the woman and infant leave the house, Gulkis said.

Police said neither victim was injured, and the Lansing Fire Department assessed both. Police were then able to arrest the 24-year-old Lansing man, Gulkis said.

Michigan State Police assisted Lansing officials on the scene Thursday evening.

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