By ANDY SEVILLA
After several hours of contact was broken between a man barricaded in a San Marcos hotel room and a SWAT team, officers bulldozed into the unit and arrested the suspect for allegedly damaging the property.
Reggie David Vine, 32, was taken into custody and charged with damaging at least two rooms at the Comfort Suites in San Marcos. Police have also charged him with a probation violation stemming from an original felony evading arrest charge out of Tarrant County.
At about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, police received a disturbance call at the Comfort Suites, at 104 IH 35 North, for a reported unruly guest who allegedly caused extensive damage to the room he was occupying, city officials said in a statement.
When San Marcos police officers arrived to the scene, officials said, Vine barricaded himself into a different room at the hotel. The San Marcos SWAT team and the Hays County Crisis Negotiation Team were called out to assist the scene at about 9:30 a.m.
Shortly after police called for back up, hotel guests were evacuated and nearby businesses were notified of the standoff situation, officials said.
Negotiators tried for hours to coax the man out of the room, but after the suspect broke off all contact with officials, SWAT made entry into the unit just after 1 p.m. and apprehended the suspect.
Investigators found ammunition in the suspect’s damaged room, but it is unknown whether the man was armed. Officials said the suspect suffered minor injuries during the encounter, and as of Tuesday evening Vine remained in Hays County custody, jail records show.
According to Vine’s charges, the hotel rooms’ damage amounted to less than $20,000.
