Menifee man faces felony charges after five-hour standoff

A Menifee man faces felony charges of domestic violence and rape after a five-hour standoff with police on Thursday, authorities said.

Gary Byrd, 55, is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside with bail set at $55,000, according to jail records. His next court date is listed as Nov. 25 at the Murrieta Southwest Detention Center.

Menifee Police Department officers responded at about 11:30 a.m. to the report of a possible domestic violence incident, according to a Menifee PD news release. The caller was a passerby who spoke to a woman on the side of the road who said been assaulted by a suspect known to her.

Officers contacted the victim, who had injuries consistent with being assaulted and identified the suspect as Byrd. Officers proceeded to a residence in the 29000 block of Citation Avenue. Byrd refused to come out of the residence.

Police made multiple attempts to establish contact with Byrd, whom they learned had access to weapons in the home and had a previous arrest for a weapons violation. A request was made to the Southwest Cities SWAT team, which is made up of officers from the Murrieta Police Department, Hemet Police Department, and Menifee Police Department.

SWAT team members arrived at about 3 p.m. and attempted to establish communications with Byrd. Crisis negotiators communicated with the suspect, who refused to surrender. After tear gas was deployed inside the house at about 6 p.m., Byrd immediately exited the home and surrendered to SWAT team members without incident.

Menifee Road between Alicante Drive and Watson Road was closed for approximately four hours during the incident.

"This was a very dangerous and rapidly evolving incident that had the potential to end with a deadly confrontation with the suspect," said Menifee Police Chief Pat Walsh. "I would like to personally thank all the officers and professional staff from our agency, and the Murrieta and Hemet Police Departments. Their professionalism and exceptional training led to a safe resolution for all involved.

"I would also like to thank the citizen who took the time to stop, check on the victim, and call the police. We value the relationship we have with our community and know our success depends on each other.”