Deputies, suspect exchange gunfire during arrest attempt
Kristen Reed | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted September 25, 2006, 4:18 PM EDT
ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA -- Volusia County deputies have surrounded the house of a 48-year-old man with whom they exchanged gunfire this morning. No deputies were injured in the gunbattle, officials said. It was not clear whether the man they were trying to arrest, Allen Michael Buzdigian, was injured.
Several nearby homes were evacuated, and John Anderson Drive was closed between Essex and Seaview drives.
The standoff began shortly after 11 a.m. Deputies were trying to arrest Buzdigian after he failed to show up for sentencing this morning for his July conviction of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
Buzdigian refused to open the door of his house on John Anderson Drive and threatened to shoot the four deputies dispatched to arrest him, a sheriff's spokesman said. The deputies tried to force open the door and then were moving back when Buzdigian opened the door and fired several shots, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies returned fire while seeking cover. After backups arrived, deputies again fired "suppressive rounds" into Buzdigian's house to give officers a chance to move to a safer location, the Sheriff's Office said.
At about 2:20 p.m., deputies began firing tear gas into the house. They have continued to have contact with Buzdigian, including by telephone, but he hangs up the phone on them, deputies said.
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