LV man surrenders after four-hour standoff with police

Monday, March 1, 2004 | 9:57 a.m.

A Las Vegas man wanted in connection with firing shots into another man's home in October barricaded himself in a southwest Las Vegas house Sunday night, prompting police to evacuate 18 nearby residents during the four-hour standoff.

Police said the man, Aliconn Cole, 53, of Las Vegas, had a gun and possibly a woman in the home with him as negotiators worked to the standoff, which began around 10 p.m.

Cole was wanted on charges that he fired four shots into a Las Vegas home on Oct. 30 or 31, Metro Police Sgt. Rick Barela said.

Sometime Sunday, Cole and the man whose home he shot into saw each other at the intersection of Torrey Pines Drive and Hacienda Avenue. Both men were in vehicles, and Barela said Cole allegedly threatened the other man with a handgun.

While investigating the threat, police tracked Cole to a home on the 5500 block of Henshaw Avenue, where they found him at about 9:50 p.m. Barela said the officers pretended they wanted to talk to Cole about a misdemeanor crime Cole was the victim of a few months earlier.

After confirming they were speaking with Cole on the telephone, a helicopter flew by and Cole became nervous, went inside, got a gun and slammed the door shut, Barela said.

Police then evacuated 18 people from nine nearby homes, and brought them to the Helen Jydstrup Elementary School.

Around midnight Barela said officers on the scene thought they heard a woman inside the home with Cole.

Cole surrendered about 2:30 a.m.

After the standoff ended police found a woman who had voluntarily remained inside the house with Cole and a child who was about 10 years old, police said. They were unharmed but police arrested the woman for child endangerment. Her name was not available this morning.

In addition to the evacuations, police blocked off the roads around where Cole was, including Lindell Road at Cactus Thorn Avenue.

During the standoff Steve Wiesenberg, 45, wasn't allowed back to his home on Henshaw, where he lives with his sister Amy, who was in their home during the standoff.

"Been here almost three years and it's a very quiet neighborhood," Wiesenberg said. "Now I'm worried. My sister's still in there."