PALM COAST, Fla. – The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy crisis negotiator helped talk an armed, suicidal man into surrender Monday afternoon after a tense, hours-long standoff in a Palm Coast neighborhood.
According to the sheriff’s office, the incident started around 10 a.m. on Burning Ember Lane during a domestic violence investigation. Deputies say 22-year-old Isaac Lewis was violating a no-contact order and was parked outside a home where the victim was staying.
Sheriff Rick Staly said when a deputy tried to make contact, Lewis sped away in his vehicle, nearly hitting the deputy. But investigators say Lewis soon returned to the neighborhood, got out of his car and held a handgun to his head.
“That really shows how volatile a domestic violence situation can be,” Staly said.
The sheriff’s office says deputies quickly recognized Lewis was not only suspected of a violent felony, but was also in the middle of a mental health crisis. Crisis negotiators, SWAT deputies and analysts in the agency’s Real Time Crime Center responded to help.
Body camera video released by the sheriff’s office shows Deputy First Class Bryan Carter trying to calm Lewis and keep him talking.
“I’m here on behalf of you, okay? I am a negotiator,” Carter told him in the video. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. Are you okay? Can we have a conversation?”
The sheriff’s office said Carter first spoke with Lewis in person, then by phone and eventually on FaceTime. After Lewis’ phone battery died, deputies used a SWAT robot to deliver him a replacement phone so the conversation could continue.
For more than two hours, Carter worked to build trust and keep Lewis engaged.
“It is 100% OK to not be OK,” Carter told him in the video.
Staly said that human connection was critical.
“Technology is great, but it doesn’t take away the human element,” Staly said. “You have the human element that’s having an issue, that thinks their life is over. But then you got a human element which you got to also be able to find that connection.”
The sheriff said technology still played an important role. Deputies and analysts monitored live feeds from body cameras and drones, allowing people both on scene and inside the Real Time Crime Center to track Lewis’ movements and body language in real time.
Still, Staly said patience made the difference.
“That’s what you do in crisis negotiation. It’s called that for a reason,” he said. “There’s a crisis and you’re trying to negotiate. If you just give it time, in most cases, it will change the entire outcome.”
Just before 2 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office, Lewis removed the magazine from the gun, cleared the chamber and put the weapon on the ground. Deputies then took him into custody without further incident.
Staly called it “the best outcome.”
“Mentality-wise this is the best outcome for him. It’s the best outcome for our team, because the last thing they want to do is witness somebody take their own life right in the front,” he said.
Lewis was arrested on charges of resisting arrest without violence, aggravated stalking, and fleeing and eluding, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators say he was first taken to a hospital for medical clearance. Afterward, he was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where the sheriff’s office says he will have access to mental health treatment.