How Burlington police officers defused City Hall Park standoff peacefully

Free Press Staff Report
Burlington Free Press

 

It could have gone sideways at any moment Thursday morning in City Hall Park.

Burlington police officers successfully defused a volatile situation in which a man armed with a knife at City Hall Park requested they shoot him.

Douglas Hochron held police at bay with a hunting knife in City Hall Park in Burlington on Sept. 20, 2018, until officers could peacefully defuse the situation, police said.

At about 10:30 a.m., the Burlington Police Department received multiple calls about a disorderly man. Callers described the man as "being aggressive" and "getting into everyone's face" and "picking fights with people."

Police went to look for him near the intersection of College and Church streets. They soon found him on the City Hall side of City Hall Park.

As officers began to address the man, he reached behind his back and displayed a hunting knife.

"While armed with the knife, the male made a statement to the effect that he would stay there until police shot him," a Burlington Police Department news release stated.

Despite officers' orders, the man would not drop the knife. He made a motion indicating he might throw the knife at the officers.

Police continued to speak with the man in a de-escalation effort.

At some point during the standoff, another man who said he'd been insulted by the man police were dealing with approached with the intent to begin a fight, police said. He complained the man with the knife had insulted him earlier in the morning on Church Street.

The second man attempted to rush toward the man with the knife and to provoke him, police said. For this, he was arrested.

As for the first man, it was only when police reassured the man he could speak with a police officer he trusted that he finally dropped the knife. The suspect was then taken into custody.

Douglas S. Hochron, 33, described as a transient, faces charges of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct, police said.

The man who sought to fight the suspect was Mark Mahardy, 51, police said. Mahardy faces a charge of impeding police.

Police Chief Brandon del Pozo commended the officers present, citing their "bravery and successful de-escalation in deftly handling a disturbed man who said he was intent on being killed by the police as he brandished a knife at them," the news release stated.