Details released about incident leading up to Elkhart SWAT standoff

ELKHART, Ind. -- Court documents from the Elkhart Superior Court have been released and describe the events leading up to Sunday's SWAT standoff in the 100 block of Witmer Avenue which ended in the arrest of 55-year-old John Dolby.

Police say they met with a concerned neighbor who had called and reported she heard screams before 3 p.m. on Saturday, when she went outside to investigate. The neighbor said when she went outside, she saw her neighbor, identified as Dolby's girlfriend, holding her back in pain. She said she was afraid to call the police and left the residence.

Dolby's girlfriend stated he had hit her with a weed puller gardening tool. She added Dolby hit her after he told her to pull weeds from the neighbor's yard and she refused.

The neighbor told Dolby's girlfriend not to pull the weeds from her yard. The neighbor also knocked on Dolby's front door and told him she didn't want her weeds pulled.

No explanation was given as to why Dolby wanted her to pull weeds from the neighbor's yard.

On Sunday around 6 a.m., Dolby's girlfriend sent a voice recording to the neighbor. According to court documents, you can hear Dolby ask why the neighbor was knocking on their door the day before. Dolby then allegedly goes on to threaten to break his girlfriend's teeth for not answering him.

Both the neighbor and girlfriend stated they were both afraid Dolby would kill his girlfriend and/or burn the house down. The girlfriend stated Dolby has body armor, high power rifles, and a lot of ammunition.

Police were made aware of the incident and officers went to the Witmer Avenue home to check on the welfare of Dolby's girlfriend.

When police arrived at Dolby's residence, they observed a woman, later identified the girlfriend, pulling weeds from the driveway. When she saw police approaching, she began crying and said, "This is going to make it worse." She then stood by one of the officers on scene.

Two officers then approached the home and attempted to contact Dolby. They knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. Dolby did not answer. Another officer was able to call Dolby, but he hung up on the officer.

Due to the nature of the crime and the information about the firearms, authorities say they stopped trying contact Dolby via the front door and began to surround the home and call out to Dolby. He refused to exit, and SWAT was then made aware of the incident.

A few officers then left to write a search warrant for the residence. The warrant was later signed by a judge around 11:04 a.m. and was then given to the SWAT Commander. The search warrant was for officers to enter the residence with probable cause to arrest Dolby. Officers then spoke with the girlfriend.

The girlfriend told police she and Dolby had been together for 10 years and there had been domestic violence in the past between the two.

She told police Dolby makes her do all the work around the house and reiterated he got mad when she refused to pull weeds, which the neighbor asked her not to.

She added she had locked Dolby out of the house because he was yelling at her. When she let him back in, she said that's when he hit her in the back and head with the weed puller. Documents state he then told her to leave the house and started jabbing her in the stomach with the end of the weed puller.

She then told him she spoke to the neighbor and left the residence. The girlfriend informed police she had a bruise on her back and swelling on her head from the incident.

Dolby was then arrested on scene after SWAT arrived and used a chemical agent which forced him to exit the home.

He was taken to the hospital for medical clearance and taken to Elkhart County Jail for Domestic Battery with Deadly Weapon and Intimidation. The weed puller was located on scene and seized as evidence.

Documents state there were several firearms in the residence that Dolby's girlfriend said she bought. There were long guns and handguns that she wanted police to take out of the home for safekeeping.

The firearms were photographed and taken to EPD.

Authorities ran Dolby's criminal history and found he had domestic battery charge from 2015 in Columbus, Ohio, with the disposition of "held".

Dolby's girlfriend said he was a convicted felon and did prison time, but she did not know where or why he was in prison.

Dolby's bond was set at $75,000.