BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – A Fincastle man is behind bars and is facing several charges in connection with a domestic violence abduction that resulted in an hours-long standoff with deputies, according to the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday at about 7:05 p.m., deputies were dispatched to Ruby Road for the report of a domestic assault call involving a man with a gun. During the call, a woman told law enforcement that her boyfriend had assaulted her while they were traveling in a vehicle and then again once they arrived at his home.
The woman alleged that the boyfriend had broken her phone, smashed the front windshield of her car and fired a single gunshot.
After arriving at the scene, deputies spoke with the victim who said that her boyfriend had drug her by the hair of her head into a camper as she attempted to escape the assault.
Authorities said they then learned that the boyfriend, later identified as 60-year-old Richard Boone Willard, Jr., of Fincastle, Virginia, had run into the camper and that he possibly was armed with a handgun.
“After multiple attempts to talk the suspect into exiting the camper, the suspect refused to communicate with crisis negotiators. Non-lethal irritants were deployed into the camper by the Emergency Response Team,” the sheriff’s office said in part.
Shortly after midnight, deputies were able to talk the suspect into surrendering without further incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
We’re told no one was injured during the standoff, and the victim had minor injuries and declined medical assistance.
Willard, Jr. is facing the following charges:
- Abduction
- Assault and battery of a family member
- Preventing persons from calling 911
- Reckless handling of a firearm
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
Willard, Jr. is currently being held in the Botetourt-Craig Regional Jail without bond.
