The SWAT team from the St. Petersburg safely rescued a three year child and took 32 year-old Matthew Perkins into custody after a four hour stand-off on Gandy Boulevard.
At 11:39 p.m. on Monday, October 24, 2022, Perkins, had a armed domestic dispute with his girlfriend/fiancée at a home in the 1900 block of Norfolk Street N. He took a three year old boy, his son, and fled the scene in a pick up truck.
With the assistance of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, officers were able to locate him on Gandy Blvd. He crashed the truck and became lodged under the I-275 overpass on Gandy. Police closed all lanes of Gandy in both directions for several hours.
For four hours, he refused to negotiate with police. The SWAT team was called up and deployed SPOT, the robotic dog, to attempt to make contact with him. Police believed that he was armed
At about 4:30 a.m., there was heightened concern for the welfare of the child, and officers moved in to extract the child and arrest Perkins. At one point in time, he was in the back seat of the car hold a pair of scissors to the child in a threatening manner.
He was taken into custody and the situation was resolved with no injuries. Perkins faces a number of charges including false imprisonment, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated assault.
No firearm was located in the vehicle.