Holly MatkinTuscaloosa, AL – A 23-year-old woman got into a standoff with Tuscaloosa police after she refused to allow two boys to leave her home after a sleepover over the weekend.
The incident began at approximately 12 p.m. on Oct. 9, when the Tuscaloosa Police Department (TPD) was called to The Path at Tuscaloosa apartment complex on 31st Street, The Birmingham News reported.
Police responded to the scene and spoke with two residents living in the complex.
The residents told them that they had allowed their two boys, ages nine and 10, to spend the night at a neighbor’s home, but that the neighbor refused to let them out of her apartment the next day, TPD Spokesperson Stephanie Taylor told The Birmingham News.
The neighbor was identified as 23-year-old Dasha Sharnell Bishop, WBMA reported.
The boys’ parents said they tried to speak with Bishop, but that she refused to open the door to let them inside, according to police.
Bishop also refused to open her door for police and ultimately barricaded herself in a back bedroom with both of the boys, WBMA reported.
The officers and the parents believed the children were in immediate danger, Taylor told The Birmingham News.
A Youth Aid investigator, two mental health officers, and the Special Response Team responded to the scene to assist with the situation, and paramedics with the Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue Service were placed on standby as a precaution.
Special Response Team officers ultimately breached the front door of Bishop’s apartment and rescued the boys at approximately 3:05 p.m., The Birmingham News reported.
Neither of the children was physically injured during the ordeal.
Bishop was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a charge of felony interference with custody, The Birmingham News reported.
Her bond was set at $15,000, which Taylor said is the maximum bond amount for the felony charge Bishop is facing.
“Today’s outcome was the best that it possibly could be,” TPD Chief Brent Blakely told WBMA after the incident. “The children are safe. The suspect is safe, and she’s now in Tuscaloosa County Jail.”
A motive was not immediately released.
