Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies were involved in a two-hour, high-risk standoff at 94 Brunswick Lane in Palm Coast Monday night that ended with the arrest of Michael H. Wells, 57, who had barricaded himself and threatened a deputy with what appeared to be a gun after luring him into the house to pick up another firearm. He is being held at the county jail on $102,500 bond.
Wells faces four felonies, including a second degree felony charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and third-degree felony charges of false imprisonment and strangulation. The incident had begun as a domestic violence confrontation between Wells and his wife. Wells’s wife had filed for divorce from her husband of 27 years in early May, only to dismiss the filing a few days later.
On Monday, she had arrived home after 5 p.m. to find Wells drunk and belligerent, according to his arrest report, as he screamed at her, broke items in the house and threw one at her that lacerated her left arm, which bled. Ninety minutes later he grabbed her by the hair and chin, dragged her, struck her in the face, choked her and prevented her from leaving, threatening to “lay you down unconscious,” before she managed to escape and call 911.
The standoff followed after law enforcement surrounded the house. “I won;t go without a fight,” Wells yelled out to deputies on the perimeter.
As the crisis negotiating team was speaking with Wells, he placed a handgun–a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson–by the front door of the house and asked for a deputy to retrieve it. A sergeant and a deputy opened the storm door and entered the house to retrieve the gun, giving Wells loud verbal commands to come out of the house. Instead, Wells began to scream to deputies to get out of his house. He moved to the master bedroom, rummaged through drawers, and, continuing to scream to cops to get out, retrieved what looked like a silver handgun.
Wells, his arrest report states, raised the firearm, “holding the firearm by his head pointed straight up” as he continued to yell to deputies to get out. A deputy pointed his gun at Wells, ordering him to drop the firearm. Wells, who could have been shot at that point, refused and closed the bedroom door. Deputies retreated to covered locations.
Thirty minutes later, Wells exited the front door and was apprehended without further complications–at 10:17 p.m. The second firearm turned out to be a .177 caliber air pistol.
As Wells was being arrested, he told deputies he wanted to file charges against his wife for domestic violence, only to recant the statement shortly afterward. He was booked at the Flagler County jail.
John says
Low life of PC.
Steve says
Beating up a Woman after a day of liquid courage. What a tough guy. Probably drinks the orange Kool aid as well. At least you are where you belong
Andy says
Wow, I never thought Palm Coast had so many guns and drugs and crazy people here. I made a mistake retiring here I see I think I might be selling going back to North Carolina where we don’t have this kind of stuff 24 -7.
bill says
another fine transplant from the north(Massachusetts) coming to what he thinks is paradise only to waste our emergency services and dont contribute to the community
The Lesson says
WOW! And he lives to see another day! Too bad veteran 32 year-old Troy Gordon of the B-section back in 2012 didn’t get the same chance at life. No, instead the currently still employed deputy got a promotion.
https://flaglerlive.com/machete-killed/#gsc.tab=0
ASF says
I hope they did a TOX screen on him. And that a Domestic Violence adocate will pay a visit to his wife while he is in custody to give her resource information.
Laurel says
No real man hits his wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother or child, nor do they verbally demean them. Bullies are cowards. This is unacceptable behavior. As David Brooks stated, to assault someone, or rape someone, is not just physical, but is to attack their soul; to verbally abuse someone is to attack their soul.
jeffery c. seib says
Wow, what kind of folks are we attracting here? Somebody is mistreating children while on drugs, super angry drunks are threatening everybody with guns, and all of them and others acting out in plain view as if it’s their right to be a jerk. What is extremely troubling is that events like this only serve to frighten people even more, mothers afraid to let their children go out and play in the fresh air, seniors hiding in their homes. It appears we have lost a measure of civility by welcoming anyone including these folks into our community. What a shame.
Pat Stote says
Hard to reply to Jeffrey. No community in this country “welcomes these folks” and Palm Coast is no exception.
Sad to say there are drunks, drug addicts and people who mistreat there children everywhere.
Neil Enbob says
The “journalist” needs to do their homework. An air pistol is not a firearm, can be bought by a felon, and can be open carried. So, there was no 2nd firearm.
FlaglerLive says
The “commenter” does not seem to know that until the standoff was over and the nature of the weapon was established, law enforcement had no way to know they were not facing a firearm, and approached the situation as if they were. In court, it doesn’t matter if the weapon brandished was an assault weapon or a water gun: it will be treated as a weapon, hence the second degree felony charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, as opposed to a pat on the back and an “aw shucks, it was only an air pistol” non-charge.
Dennis C Rathsam says
My thoughts exactly! This place is turning into a haven for crooks, druggys, & thievies…. Keep building so more shitheads can move in!
Whathehck? says
Welcome to Florduh, bring your guns here and buy some more, we love all gun nutjobs.
jeffery c. seib says
Your absolutely right Pat, no community in their right mind welcomes these folks. It’s a sad fact that situations like this have an impact on the psyche of our community. Just like other cities we all have to be aware of crime in all its forms and of course as the population grows the criminal element grows also.
Concerned Citizen says
Most “air pistols” look realistic now. And very few have safety markings.
They can be easily bought over the internet. A friend of mines son has one that looks like a new 5th Gen Glock. You could rack the slide and drop the mag. And although it only shot airsoft rounds you can’t tell on first sighting. He got it taken away very quickly.
Having been a cop myself if you pointed one at me, I would probably point mine back. At least until the situation is deescalated. Unless you’ve been a cop these folks make life and death decisions in seconds. It’s easy to armchair quarter back on FL. I have long been critical of the Sheriff here in this county. But he has done a decent job on deescalating use of force.
The dude says
But they seem especially concentrated in Central Florida.
Numbers don’t lie.
Adam wells says
You need stop posting stuff making it dramatic you don’t know my dad all these people talking are not all saints i know my father he has mental disorder and drug problem get the facts straight idc what y’all think about him I still love him so does my mom we all make mistakes in life every one needs to grow up and I love him still and have his back I know the true story