‘The area’s safe, secure. That’s all we were told,’ neighbor says after Springfield standoff

Residents on North Belmont Avenue in Springfield were left wondering about the standoff Thursday night involving police and SWAT that shut down the street for nearly two hours.

>> GALLERY: See photos of the police North Belmont Avenue standoff in Springfield

“[Police] said the area’s safe and secure. That’s all we were told,” Deidra Grimm, who lives next door to the house in the 700 block of North Belmont Avenue law enforcement was focused on.

The standoff ended sometime after 9 p.m. with no immediate comment from police.

Sometime after 11 p.m., a police lieutenant told our Malik Patterson, who was on scene all evening and spoke to Grimm for News Center 7 at 11, the suspect police were looking for was not in the house and that no new information would be released at this time.

Grimm said she began seeing police scurrying around the neighborhood about 5:30 p.m. “I looked out the dining room window and saw a bunch of police officers pulling up. They were getting out and running around the sidewalk,” she said.

When News Center 7 contacted police about 7:30 p.m. based on a tip from a viewer about the police presence, Sgt. Mercado said police had been at the house at least 30 minutes.

>> Police release mug shot of driver accused of hitting, dragging 9-year-old girl a half-mile

Police blocked traffic from entering North Belmont Avenue and the sergeant said the situation possibly involved a suspected felony theft involving at least two persons.

“They had their assault rifles and they had the house surrounded,” Grimm said. “It makes me afraid. I’m afraid to let the kids come outside and play anymore without them being watched, and my yard is completely enclosed.”

We will continue to update this developing report on whio.com as we learn more.