Bridgeview Village Apartments residents, ice cream truck witness standoff

Heavily armed police. A barricaded suspect. An ice cream truck selling treats.

Saturday’s standoff at Bridgeview Village Apartments had it all.

The incident began around 4 p.m. when agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force went to the North Romney Street complex to serve a warrant. The suspect bolted and ran into one of the apartments, according to Charleston police spokesman Charles Francis.

As the man hid alone, adjacent units were evacuated, Francis said. A large crowd formed as the Charleston police SWAT team, bomb squad and hostage negotiators arrived to assist.

As police surrounded the building with heavy weaponry and dogs, an ice cream truck pulled to the curb with its eerie jingle playing and began selling frosty treats to the anxious crowd.

Shortly after 9 p.m., the suspect climbed from a second-story window and was quickly surrounded at gunpoint by a host of officers. The crowd of onlookers shouted helpful instructions such as “Jump” and “Keep your hands up” as the suspect looked down from a ledge.

He finally took their advice and dropped into the waiting clutches of police.

Francis did not identify the suspect, and he referred questions about the man to federal authorities, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 300-unit complex was the site of a homicide Monday in which a 21-year-old man was shot to death. Three people have been arrested in connection with the killing. Francis said there was no connection between the killing and Saturday’s standoff.