SWAT commander describes intense standoff involving man barricaded inside car
Chase leads to SWAT standoff
A SWAT team used a grenade to get a suspect out of car in Volusia County.
HOLLY HILL, Fla. - A standoff in Holly Hill has caught national attention as video taken from body cameras worn by deputies show the tense moments they tried to take down a suspect.
Dillon Calisi is accused of attacking an Ormond Beach police officer, leading to a three-hour standoff where deputies said he barricaded himself inside a car and refused to come out. The suspect is heard during a 911 call to a dispatcher.
"I'm about to start unloading on these officers [expletive]. OK, I don't want you to do that. Put them on the (expletive) phone (expletive).”
SWAT commander Captain Benyamin Yisrael detailed the tense moments.
“When it comes time for us to take action or to make some kind of contact with this individual, we want to make sure we have the best advantage,” he said.
Cpt. Yisrael said they first tried to use CS gas, deployed from the top of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office BearCat armored vehicle.
“You could tell that his skin would begin to burn a little bit, irritated, but he would wipe it off,” he said of the suspect’s reaction.
The SWAT team then deployed what’s called a stinger-ball grenade. A device that released a flash, bang, CS gas and rubber pellets.
“So you have loud noise, you have flash, you’re getting pelted with rubber pellets and you’re feeling your skin burning from the CS gas,” described Cpt. Yisrael. “It causes you to go into an odor loop, trying to process what’s going on.”
After it was deployed, investigators said the suspect threw a gun out of the car, allowing the SWAT team to move in and remove him from the vehicle. A plan Cpt. Yisrael said was well executed.
“Everyone went home safe and unharmed, including him,” he said.
Calisi was booked into the Volusia County Jail Monday after being released from the hospital.
He faces several charges, including resisting an officer with violence.