VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A New Jersey man is at the Volusia County Jail after police say he threatened to blow himself up with a grenade in a Daytona Beach Hotel Saturday morning and caused a more than six-hour standoff.
- David Allen was making threats, according to investigators
- He was taken into custody after long standoff
- Allen faces hoax bomb threat, aggravated assault charges
Volusia County emergency dispatchers received a call around 7:30 a.m. about 45-year-old David Allen allegedly making suicidal threats. Police started evacuating the hotel immediately and closed down portions of A1A.
"About 8 o'clock in the morning we wake up to a banging on the door, then the door opened and the only thing catching it was the latch," said Darrin Davis, a hotel guest staying on the eighth floor. "They didn’t tell us what was going on, they told us it's a police matter and we needed to evacuate."
UPDATE: @DaytonaBchPD have identified the man making threats at the Ocean Breeze Hotel as David Allen, from NJ. They say he had a fake grenade. He is now in custody and guests will be able to return to the hotel shortly @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/mWhLBahbKI
— Nicole Griffin (@NicoleNews13) September 21, 2019
Allen, from Atlantic City, was making threats, police say. Using a drone, investigators could see Allen was alone pacing from his room to the hallway, to his balcony, and determined the grenade was fake.
"It turned out to be a dummy grenade that was hollowed out from the bottom so realistically it was no real threat. So we still had to take the necessary precautions just to be on the safe side," said Deputy Chief Jakari Young with the Daytona Beach Police Department.
From there, negotiators worked to tire Allen out. They say he was throwing furnitute onto his balcony and making odd statements.
"He was talking a lot but it was very delusional, irrational, he's the messiah, a lot of irrational statements and comments were made," Young said.
Eventually, Allen asked for a Coke, which negotiators used as an opportunity.
"What we ended up doing is we sat the Coke out in the hallway and we convinced him to come out and grab the Coke, at which time we were able to tase him and then safely get him into custody," said Young.
Police say no one was hurt and Allen was quickly taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail where he is now facing charges.
"At a minimum he's facing a hoax bomb threat charge, and he's facing aggravated assault charges," said Young.