Prince William County Police Department VALOROUS MERIT AWARD

OnNovember 12, 2022, at 0658 hours, Officers responded to the 17000 block of Isle Royale Terrace in reference to a domestic with weapons call. Upon making contact with the occupants of the residence, several issues were immediately recognized by the Officers. The subject was in personal distress/in crisis and agitated. She was armed with a baseball bat and was aggressively destroying personal items in the home and was visibly pregnant, which was confirmed by her family members. Efforts to convince her to drop the bat were unsuccessful. After a lengthy dialogue with several different Officers, the subject still refused to drop the bat and threatened the Officers if they came near her. Officers knew their force options would be limited as they did not want to cause physical harm to the expectant mother or unborn child. The Officers knew the safest way to end the standoff was to act quickly, decisively, and to put themselves within striking distance of the bat to overpower and surprise the subject.

Eventually, Officer Ryan Hustwayte and Officer Taylor Craddock took an opportunity when the subject was distracted. Officers Hustwayte and Craddock swarmed her and took control of her arms, the bat, and placed her onto the ground. Once on the ground, the physical struggle continued, but the Officers were able to safely secure with minimal harm to the subject or the Officers. The subject received medical treatment for minor abrasions and received a mental evaluation through the Community Services Board.