A standoff ended peacefully after several hours of negotiation this afternoon.
At approximately 1:26 pm todayDanville Police Officers went to a residence in the 400 block of Montague Street to serve warrants on Mary Elizabeth Jefferies, age 50, for Domestic Assault and Battery, Trespassing, and Malicious Damage. These charges stemmed from an incident that occurred in Pittsylvania County earlier today. Upon arrival officers determined that Jefferies was inside the residence along with her elderly mother. Information was also provided to officers suggesting that Jefferies was unstable and had made comments about harming the police, her mother, and herself if the police attempted to take her into custody. Incident command was established with the SWAT team and the Hostage Negotiations team responding.
After several hours of intermittent phone contact with Ms. Jefferies, she finally agreed to surrender peacefully to lead negotiator Sgt. Bonnie Oakes and negotiation teammate Cpl. David Whitley. Immediately following her surrender at approximately 7:46 pm, members of the SWAT team executed a search warrant on the residence and located ammunition but no firearm.
At the time of this release Mary Jefferies was at Danville Regional Medical Center for evaluation. She will be served with the aforementioned warrants once her evaluation or treatment is concluded.
Ref: Virginia State Code 18.2-57.2, 18.2-119, 18.2-137