For the third time in as many months, the Morgan Hill SWAT team
was called into action Tuesday night as an armed resident of the
Madrone Mobile Estates barricaded himself in a residence with a
small arsenal of weapons while dressed in Kevlar body armor and a
gas mask.
For the third time in as many months, the Morgan Hill SWAT team was called into action Tuesday night as an armed resident of the Madrone Mobile Estates barricaded himself in a residence with a small arsenal of weapons while dressed in Kevlar body armor and a gas mask.
Timothy Tator, 39, surrendered peacefully after approximately five and a half hours. No one was injured.
Police were called at approximately 10 p.m. by a 16-year-old male, who told police Tator held a gun to his head and threatened him because of his dating relationship with Tator’s 15-year-old stepdaughter.
“He (Tator) and the young man apparently had a problem back in November over the relationship,” MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson said Wednesday. “Tator thought the young man may have been involving his stepdaughter in drinking and other activities which Tator did not approve of.”
Sampson said that for some reason, Tator decided to call the boyfriend Tuesday and tell him not to see his stepdaughter any more. There was a discussion, and the boyfriend decided to talk to him face to face.
“When the door (of Tator’s residence) opened, the boy was grabbed and pulled inside with a gun to the back of his head,” Sampson said. “He began talking to the boy, telling him he didn’t appreciate the relationship, and something along the lines of, ‘My own family doesn’t know what I’m capable of’.”
At the time, Tator’s wife and three children, including the stepdaughter, were in the mobile home. As the victim was able to talk his way out of the residence and to a pay phone to call police, Tator instructed his family to leave also, Sampson said.
Tator, who is on probation for domestic assault and has a variety of prior counts of assault and battery and domestic violence, then barricaded himself in the residence, telling police when they contacted him by phone to come out and talk to them that he is a survivalist and martial arts expert.
The four MHPD officers and eight Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies at the moble home park at 200 Burnett Ave., space 59, in north Morgan Hill learned that Tator had several firearms registered in his name, including a .44 caliber revolver, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a 30/30 hunting rifle.
The mobile home park was cordoned off by officers, and residents from 15 mobile homes near Tator’s residence were evacuated. They were sheltered in the park’s clubhouse during the standoff.
“During the course of the standoff, the suspect informed officers that he had weapons and that he did not trust police,” Sampson said. “He was prepared, wearing body armor and a gas mask, and told us he was, in anticipation of the possible use of gas or other methods. He told us if we ‘went tactical on’ him, he was prepared.”
Madrone Manager Francis Neumayer, whose son Jerry is on the SWAT team, said he was called about 11:30 p.m. and went to the clubhouse.
“A lot of people were gathered around inside, where we made coffee, and they were very thankful to be there and be safe,” he said. “It wasn’t pleasant for anyone to be woken up and to have to come stay in the clubhouse for a while, but everyone made the best of it.”
There were some people, Neumayer said, living in the area near Tator’s residence that were not among the crowd, and other neighbors noticed it.
“We told the officers, who had already knocked on their doors but got no response, and they went back and were able to wake them up and get them out,” he said.
A park resident, who asked not to be identified, said she was extremely surprised to get the midnight phone call.
“They told us we had to evacuate, that there was a man who had had a bad day,” she said. “Just as my husband and I came down the front stairs, there was an officer on the street, and he escorted us to the clubhouse.”
The neighbor said she felt safe in the neighborhood and didn’t know the neighbor had guns or a history of assault charges.
“We know many of our neighbors and have always felt safe,” she said.
During the three-hour evacuation, the neighbor and her husband sat for a time in their other car, which was parked at the clubhouse and watched the SWAT team suit up.
“It was kind of exciting, since we knew that we were safe,” she said.
The hostage negotiations team, Sampson said, began the what turned out to be lengthy negotiations with Tator.
“Through the professionalism and negotiating skills of the officers, a peaceful surrender was negotiated,” Sampson said.
Tator’s weapons, body armor and gas mask were confiscated, and he was taken to county jail charged with brandishing a firearm in a threatening manner, a felony, and felony criminal threats.
On May 4, a SWAT team entered a man’s townhome in the Creekside Village development after he allegedly fired one round from a shotgun, damaging an upper stairwell wall.
The Morgan Hill man, apparently despondent over dealing with the aftereffects of chemotherapy for the treatment of lupus, was taken into custody later that night.
On Feb. 24, 2004, a domestic dispute ended in suicide after a husband punched his wife in the face and tried to break her neck. He then led police on a six-mile chase and ultimately shot himself to death after a six-hour standoff during which the SWAT team surrounded the a trailer in the Maple Leaf RV Park.
