Suspect Dodges Marshals, Arrest

A man who barricaded himself inside his Westminster home early Friday after marshals tried to serve him with a felony arrest warrant managed to escape before SWAT members arrived and settled in for what turned out to be a four-hour “phony standoff,” police said.

Terry Clayton, 45, was wanted by authorities on suspicion of threatening a crime, said Orange County Marshal’s Capt. John Fuller. Specifics on the incident were not immediately available, he said.

When the four officers arrived at Clayton’s home in the 6100 block of Bannock Road about 6:30 a.m., Clayton ran out the backdoor, where he was met by two of the marshals who had surrounded the house, Fuller said.

“He spotted the officers, turned around and ran right back inside,” Fuller said. He then refused to answer the telephone.

While the marshals waited for the Westminster Police Department’s SWAT team to arrive as backup, Clayton “must have slipped away,” Fuller said.

“It probably happened while we were attempting to contain the house with that small, skeleton crew,” Fuller said. “Exactly how he did it is unknown at this time.”

The disappearing act was discovered shortly before 11 a.m., when SWAT members entered the house and found it empty, said Lt. Mike Schliskey. He said the team scoured “every nook and cranny” including the attic.

“I’ve seen a lot of strange things happen in cases like this,” Fuller said. “People hide in the floorboards and in the insulation. But not today. Clearly, this guy was gone.”

During the standoff, hostage negotiators tried to coax Clayton outside while police evacuated four nearby homes.

SWAT members were concerned that Clayton, who has a history of weapons violence, was armed inside the house, Schliskey said. No weapons were found when they gained entry.

Authorities searched the area for Clayton, a house painter who had been staying with friends in Westminster, but he had not been found late Friday.