A 61-year-old Weld County man was arrested on Tuesday (January 12) following a five-hour long standoff with law enforcement.

According to a press release from the Weld County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 4 p.m., a deputy with the Civil Unit traveled to a home located in the 25400 block of Weld County Road 49, with the intention of serving Mark Robert Hamilton with a protection order.

The protection order was reportedly from a neighbor who had petitioned the courts over an unknown dispute.

When the deputy arrived at the residence, Hamilton refused to speak with him, and further argued that the sheriff's office didn't have jurisdiction. The deputy persisted in trying to persuade Hamilton to come out of the home, and continued to knock on the front door and windows.

The sheriff's office explained that suddenly, out of nowhere, Hamilton appeared in the driveway sitting inside a front loader, that was carrying a bale of hay. The suspect proceeded to ram the front loader into the deputy's vehicle, attempting to push it off the property. The deputy was not inside his car during this time.

Hamilton did manage to push the vehicle several yards down the driveway, before then turning the front loader, and chasing the deputy instead.

At one point, Hamilton did exit the piece of machinery. The suspect ignored commands to get on the ground, so the deputy deployed a taser, however, it was unsuccessful.

Hamilton retreated back to the home and barricaded himself inside. Patrol deputies arrived on scene and attempted to get Hamilton to surrender. The deputies spent hours trying to contact Hamilton by cellphone, text, and over a loud speaker, but he refused to comply.

The Weld County Regional SWAT Team was dispatched the home at approximately 7:45 p.m. The SWAT Team was ultimately forced to deploy five rounds of tear gas, and Hamilton was taken into custody at 9:06 p.m.

Mark Hamilton was booked into the Weld County Jail on suspicion of one count each of attempted second-degree assault and attempted vehicular assault, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor chargers of obstructing government operations and resisting arrest.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

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