Mark A. Delbrook
Mark A. Delbrook, 58, of Cedar Hill has been arrested on a felony warrant following a standoff with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies this morning, Oct. 25, on Hwy. 30 between Cedar Hill and House Springs, Sheriff Dave Marshak announced.
Delbrook was wanted on a warrant for first-degree harassment, a class E felony. The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged him on Oct. 19, but he had not yet been arrested on the charge, court records show.
The Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Delbrook was driving away from his home in the 700 block of Red Clover Drive this morning, and a deputy pulled him over on Hwy. 30 near Executive Parkway, the report said.
After stopping, Delbrook did not respond to the deputy’s commands. Because Delbrook allegedly had threatened law enforcement officers in the past because of a dispute with neighbors, additional deputies, SWAT units and Crisis Intervention specialists were called to the scene, Marshak said in a statement.
During the standoff, the Sheriff’s Office closed eastbound Hwy. 30 at about 8:30 a.m., and at about 9:15 a.m., the highway was closed in both directions. The lanes were reopened at about 10 a.m.
“Using all the resources and training at their disposal, Sheriff’s Office teams were able to de-escalate the situation and take Delbrook into custody with minimal incident,” Marshak said in a written statement. “While there are rumors Delbrook was shot, those rumors are false. SWAT operators deployed a diversionary device to disorient Delbrook while they approached. But at no point were shots fired.”
Deputies allegedly found a loaded handgun and additional magazines inside the vehicle Delbrook had been driving, the report said.
The Sheriff’s Office reported Delbrook was transported to an area hospital for evaluation and is expected to be booked at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro later today. He is expected to be held without bond, according to the report.
The felony charge stems from an incident that occurred on Oct. 16 when Delbrook allegedly was shining a laser pointer through the rear glass door of one of his neighbor’s homes on Red Clover Drive. At one point, the laser scanned the room before focusing on a man inside the home, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
The man told investigators he told Delbrook to stop shining the laser pointer at him and Delbrook said something the neighbor couldn’t hear before saying, “You crooked cops,” the report said.
The neighbor also told investigators that at about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 14, one of his family members had a red laser pointer shined on his car as he drove on Red Clover Drive, according to the report.
The probable-cause statement said Delbrook has not been cooperative with deputies in the past and has left notes on his door claiming violence toward law enforcement. Delbrook also allegedly used aggressive dogs to stop law enforcement officers who were trying to question him.
Calls for service on Red Clover Drive had been escalating the past six months, the report said.
In September, Delbrook was charged in Jefferson County with second-degree property damage, a class B misdemeanor, for allegedly shooting pellets at a neighbor’s home on June 12, resulting in 20 small holes in the siding of the house. The damage was estimated at $2,396.50, the probable-cause statement in that case said.
Delbrook also has reportedly harassed neighbors by throwing screws onto the roadway to flatten tires, the probable-cause statement said.
A class E felony is punishable by up to four years in prison, and a class B misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.