Man surrenders to Spokane County SWAT team after standoff at West Plains home

A 55-year-old man accused of domestic violence was arrested Tuesday after an hourslong standoff with negotiators and SWAT personnel from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a home in the 5200 block of South Aspen Road, near the Spokane International Airport, after a woman reported that Tony L. Christmann had assaulted and strangled her there on Monday evening, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

At about 11 a.m. Tuesday, deputies found Christmann at the residence and told him he needed to come out, but he refused, telling the deputies to get a warrant. He was seen looking out of windows but would not surrender, the sheriff’s office said.

After several attempts to coax Christmann from the residence, deputies began applying for a warrant at about noon. Suspecting that Christmann was armed or had access to weapons, they also called in negotiators and the SWAT team, the sheriff’s office said. Traffic volunteers briefly closed a section of Westbow Boulevard.

Shortly after 1 p.m., as deputies approached the house in armored vehicles, Christmann exited and was taken into custody, the sheriff’s office said. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault.

Christmann, who once lived in Post Falls, has a criminal record in Idaho spanning the late 1990s and early 2000s, including convictions for theft, forgery and drug possession.