A Rohnert Park man was arrested after he fired a gun in his backyard, threatened to kill his wife and barricaded himself in his car, forcing a standoff with police that lasted almost an hour, authorities said Friday.
Several times during the confrontation it appeared Werner Paul Ron Hoh, 57, was trying to get police to shoot him, Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Dave Welch said in a statement.
"He would drive toward the police vehicles blocking his exit as if he were going to ram them in an attempt to force the officers to shoot him," Welch said.
The incident began shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday when officers responded to a report of a gun being fired in a yard on Brett Avenue. Hoh was discovered to be "extremely intoxicated," Welch said, and to have fired several shots. He had also threatened his wife and said that he was going to "force police to shoot him," Welch said.
Hoh fled his residence by car, prompting a search that included support from Cotati police and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department helicopter.
He was cornered in a cul-de-sac, where after 45 minutes he was convinced by police, who had been unsure whether he still had a gun, to surrender.
The gun was found in his home. He was arrested on suspicion of resisting a police officer, being a felon in possession of a handgun and threatening to kill a person. Hoh was in Sonoma County Jail on $120,000 bail.
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