Man wanted after standoff calls 911 for emergency medical help, arrested

BELOIT, Wis. — A man police were looking for after a 14-hour standoff Wednesday was taken into custody without incident Thursday morning after he called for EMS help in another part of the city, Beloit police said.

The standoff in the 2000 block of St. Lawrence Avenue in Beloit started Wednesday morning, when 31-year-old Vernon T. Lige reportedly pointed a gun at his girlfriend, according to a Facebook post.

Police asked residents Wednesday to avoid two blocks of the road as officers worked on resolving a domestic incident that started around 8:30 a.m.

About 12 hours after the incident began, police entered the home and determined Lige was not inside. Officials said they found property belonging to his girlfriend burned in the house. They said they found a long gun, but they didn’t find the handgun that Lige is accused of pointing at his girlfriend before police arrived at the home.

Lige had a window of about 15-20 minutes before police arrived Wednesday morning when he must have left the home, but police believed he was in there in part because he spoke with officials on the phone several times during the incident.

“The victim and the witnesses had left and weren’t in a very good position to see whether he had remained, so we had to go along with the premise that he was still inside the residence,” said Lt. John Kaltenbrun with the Beloit Police Department.

Once police cleared the home Wednesday night, the roads were opened back up to the public.

Beloit police said Lige called 911 for a medical emergency around 2 a.m. Thursday. Beloit paramedic crews recognized him as wanted by police and notified Beloit officers. Lige was taken to the hospital, then taken to the Rock County Jail.

He’s facing charges of domestic disorderly conduct while armed, endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon, arson of property and additional charges that are still being investigated.

Police said Thursday that Lige is partially cooperating with the investigation.

“He didn’t resist. He didn’t fight with us. He’s just not talk about the incident right now,” Kaltenbrun said.

Police said Lige is prohibited from having a gun because of a previous domestic incident. The long gun found in the home was reported stolen out of another jurisdiction.

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