A Plymouth man wielding a kitchen knife allegedly held his estranged wife captive early Tuesday morning, refusing to surrender even after Plymouth police had him cornered.
The terrifying incident, captured on police body camera footage, shows one of the officers running up a flight of stairs, his gun pointed at the man, Nicholas Munroe, and ordering him to “drop the knife! drop the knife!”
The standoff lasted an hour, police said, though the video, posted on the Plymouth Police Facebook page, is just several minutes long.
Police Chief Dana Flynn said in an interview on Wednesday he was proud of the first responder on the scene, Patrolman Thomas Foley, and other officers who showed “great restraint” in diffusing a volatile situation.
“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome in this case,” he said. “The officers showed great restraint, their training kicked in, and they did a great job.”
A few days earlier, an arrest warrant had been issued for Munroe who allegedly violated a restraining order his wife had sought on March 12, court records show.
In his written reports, Foley described how he repeatedly tried to de-escalate the situation and persuade Munroe to put down the knife.
“Several times throughout the encounter I had my firearm pointed at Mr. Munroe’s body,” he wrote in his police report.
“Mr. Munroe was very agitated,” Foley wrote, “yelling and hitting his fist on the walls and windows. Several times he had the knife pointed directly at himself and made statements saying he was ready to die. “
Munroe finally lay down the knife and gave up after several other officers arrived at the house on Clark Road, police reports say.
Munroe, 40, was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation on Tuesday.
On March 21 a warrant had been issued for Munroe’s arrest after he allegedly showed up at his wife’s house in violation of the current restraining order, court records show.
He is facing charges including kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, intimidating police, violating an abuse prevention order, breaking and entering and carrying a dangerous weapon.
He was also charged with four counts of reckless endangerment of a child. During the incident Munroe allegedly sent four “poorly dressed and shoeless” children outside in the cold, the police report said.
“The weather was cold, in the low 30s,” Foley wrote, “with light snow falling.”
A child abuse report was filed with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
Munroe has been a defendant in at least 32 cases in Plymouth District Court dating to 2003. Charges against him have included breaking and entering, violating an abuse prevention order and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon— a car.
In that 2009 case, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in jail.
His lawyer, Michael Phippen, could not be reached for comment.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.