Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man they said was threatening to set himself on fire.
The standoff began Friday afternoon at a home in the 3000 block of Bromm Road.
In a release, the sheriff’s office said parolee Eric Nicholson was refusing to go to a mental health appointment, was breaking windows, and threatening to set himself on fire with gasoline if police approached.
Responding deputies created a command post near the intersection of Bromm Road and Orchard Road, confirmed that Nicholson’s family members were safely out of home, and were told Nicholson was having a manic episode and hallucinating.
A check of Nicholson’s criminal history showed he had been convicted of killing his aunt, Melody Trent of Evansville, in 1999.
He was paroled in 2018
During the stand-off, Nicholson’s parole officer obtained a new parole violation warrant. After consulting with NichoIson’s family, the decision was made to deescalate the situation by leaving Nicholson alone in the home.
The Sheriff’s Office used plain clothes detectives to notify surrounding residents of the situation.
Around 6:00 Friday evening, the Sheriff’s Office found Nicholson walking on Saint Joe Avenue near Mohr Road, and took him into custody.
In the release Sheriff Dave Wedding called the case a “perfect illustration of the challenges our criminal justice system faces when dealing with violent offenders who are in need of long term mental health care.”
He called for “adequate bed space and mental health resources.”