SWAT standoff in northeast El Paso ends peacefully as man wanted for embezzlement finally surrenders to police
EL PASO, Texas -- A SWAT standoff Friday afternoon with a wanted man barricaded in a home in northeast El Paso ended peacefully when he finally surrendered to police.
Noel Thomas Taylor, 48, was taken into custody about 2:50 p.m.
Police said the standoff erupted around 12:30 p.m., about two hours after officers and federal marshals first went to the home in the 12000 block of Obrady Place to serve an arrest warrant for Taylor.
A police spokesman said the warrant was for a probation violation out of New Mexico on an embezzlement case.
While authorities had assumed Taylor could've had a weapon while he was locked inside the home alone, it turned out he was unarmed.
For hours before surrendering, Taylor had refused to communicate with the police department's Crisis Management Team.
"Please communicate with us. Open a window, say something. If you have a phone, call 911 and we can talk that way," police had said in a message delivered over a loudspeaker to Taylor.
