Barricade Ends With SWAT Team, Arrest

A Sarasota man is behind bars after surrendering to a SWAT team this afternoon on Wilkinson Road.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested Andrew Whitt, 29, who surrendered peacefully after a five-hour standoff. Detectives say Whitt, who was listed as transient, strangled a woman and barricaded himself in the attic of her home.

Deputies were called to the 5400 block of Wilkinson Road at 8:55 a.m., by a friend of the victim. Resident Wenonah Sauls had called the woman for help and told her that Whitt came to her home around 6 a.m., and attacked her with an unknown object during a fight, according to the sheriff's office.

The victim told detectives that Whitt grabbed her by the throat and dragged her to the bedroom and penned her to the bed with both hands, according to the probable cause affidavit.

"It's OK. We're gonna die. You want to die, let's die together," Whitt told the victim, according to the probable cause affidavit. 

The friend arrived at Sauls’ house and called 911 and reported Whitt had fled up into the attic.

Responding deputies made numerous attempts to get Whitt to come out of the home, the sheriff's office said. The SWAT team and negotiators were called to the scene just before 11 a..m., and they convinced Whitt to come out of the attic without incident just after 1 p.m.

Whitt is charged with False Imprisonment and Domestic Battery by Strangulation, according to the sheriff's office. He had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for failing to appear in court on a drug charge, the sheriff's office said.