Man surrenders after several-hour standoff in West Deer Twp.

WEST DEER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The SWAT team was called in to assist with a standoff in West Deer Township Friday morning with a man police called very dangerous.

West Deer police Chief Jon Lape told Channel 11 News that 40-year-old James Clayton Grace went to his ex-girlfriend’s house after threatening to hurt her.

Lape said Grace’s ex-girlfriend had left the home by time he arrived, and when officers showed up, he barricaded himself inside a nearby trailer.

“He did have three screwdrivers on him. That was mentioned in his threat, that he was going to use those as the weapon of choice,” Lape said.

After a standoff lasting several hours, Grace eventually surrendered without incident.

“At the state in which he came out of the trailer, he was very cooperative. As that went on, it got a little worse. He was having some difficulty due to the gases that were put in the trailer, so he was taken to the hospital for evaluation,” Lape said.

According to Lape, Grace’s ex recieved a protection from abuse order against him earlier this month, and he violated it a few days after it was issued. Lape said Grace came to the woman’s house and beat her.

Neighbor Amy Kelly recalled the incident.

“We heard, ‘He is going to kill me. Help me,’” Kelly said. “My husband ran outside and she was just screaming.”

Kelly said she hopes Grace is kept in jail.

“If you’re going to do that to a woman in the first place, I don’t think there should be a second, third, fourth or fifth chance to do it again,” Kelly said.

Lape also said Grace previously spent 12 years in jail in Ohio for an officer-related shooting.

For his involvement in Friday’s incident, Grace is charged with burglary, trespassing and making terroristic threats.

WPXI