A man accused of beating his wife in Michigan was taken into custody on a western Iowa highway after a nearly 10 hour stand-off with Iowa and Nebraska authorities.
Early this morning, the Iowa State Patrol got a tip that 45-year-old Eric David Kramer of Stanton, Michigan would be driving near the Bellevue Toll Bridge over the Missouri River. Trooper Scott Miller, a spokesman for the State Patrol, said at 5:30 a.m. a trooper tried to stop Kramer’s vehicle in that area.
“Mr. Kramer did not stop right away. His car rolled to a stop probably about a quarter of a mile away…Mr. Kramer stopped his vehicle in the middle of Highway 370 in the eastbound lane and brandished a gun and put the gun to his head,” Miller said, “and the standoff started.”
The area was closed to traffic for much of the day as Kramer and police negotiators talked by phone.
“Mr. Kramer had a weapon and was acting erratically and we didn’t know exactly what he was going to do,” Miller said. “…We decided that the safest thing to do was shut down that road until Mr. Kramer gave up.”
A passenger in Kramer’s vehicle was able to escape during the stand-off. Kramer surrounded at about 3:15 in the afternoon.
“The tactical team was called in and tear gas was put in the vehicle and I think that prompted Mr. Kramer to give up a little quicker, thank goodness,” Miller said.
Kramer’s wife told police her husband put a gun to her head early Monday morning in their home and threatened to kill her. She says Kramer assaulted her before she was able to escape in her own car.
(By Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah)