FREEHOLD –The man who set off a 10½ hour standoff in Matawan on Monday faces charges for various offenses.
According to police, the standoff tied up significant law enforcement resources and damaged a robot used to bring the incident to a peaceful conclusion announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Michael “Bean” Geran, 51, of Johnson Avenue in Matawan, is charged with second degree False Public Alarms, second-degree Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, and third-degree Criminal Mischief according to Prosecutor Gramiccioni.
The incident began with a request from a family member for a welfare check around 11:56 a.m. on Monday at home in the first block of Johnson Avenue in the borough. Matawan police arrived to find Geran home but refusing to come out of the residence. It was also determined that Geran was armed with a handgun.
Matawan police officers exhausted direct verbal communications followed by the defendant cutting off all communications with responding officers.
Police said as a result, they sought the assistance of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT) and the Monmouth County Police Chief’s Association Rapid Deployment Force (RDF).
Once on scene, negotiators attempted to convince the man to surrender – but that didn’t happen until approximately 10:18 p.m.
In the wake of the standoff, Geran is accused of cutting the wires on a MOCERT robot, before pushing the mechanical technology down a flight of stairs, causing more than $5,000 in damage.