Man Destroys 4 CMPD Drones And A Bomb Squad Robot Before Surrendering

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The man at the center of a 30 plus hour stand off in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte is undergoing a mental health evaluation. Then, he will be criminally charged. Police say 32-year-old Anh Thai threatened his neighbors on Griers Fork Drive and then barricaded himself inside his mother’s home. It started around 6:45 AM Saturday and ended around 1:30 PM on Sunday.

Negotiators finally convinced him to surrender, but not before they lost drones and a robot in the process. CMPD Special Operations Bureau Maj. Dave Johnson says, “Four of our CMPD drones were damaged and a very expensive bomb squad robot was also damaged by Mr. Thai with a baseball bat.” He continues, “They’re expensive, right, in the grand scheme of things, but a small price to bring this to a resolution.”

Police say Thai was armed during the standoff, and that an officer fired a shot at Thai once, but did not hit him. CMPD says they’ve been called to the home 63 times since 2017.