Manatee SWAT Ends Standoff

A 38-year-old man faces charges of armed robbery, false imprisonment, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest after a five-hour standoff with  SWAT members Saturday.

According to a Manatee County Sheriff's report:

Jess Cleveland Kelly broke into at 5169 14^th St. West and waited for a store employee to arrive.

A woman arrived at the business at around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, and Kelly pointed a gun at her and demanded that she open the store's safe. About an hour later, deputies responded to an alarm call and heard screaming coming from inside the store.

Deputies broke the front glass door and found the clerk tied up. The suspect was gone. A short while later, deputies spotted Kelly on the roof. When he saw deputies he climbed into an air-conditioning vent – the same access he appears to have used earlier to break into the business.

Patrol deputies and SWAT members called for Kelly to come out, but he did not respond and stayed hidden. Authorities evacuated several other businesses in the building before SWAT members launched tear gas and flash bangs in an effort to flush Kelly from the building and force him to surrender. He still didn’t respond.

SWAT searched the building and found Kelly just hiding in an air-conditioning vent. Even then, Kelly wouldn't come out of the building and would not follow orders from SWAT team members. SWAT used additional tear gas and Kelly finally surrendered.

During the five-hour standoff, a portion of U.S. 41 was closed to traffic. Traffic was rerouted between 49th and 53rd Avenues as a precaution.