Boulder residents evacuated during 'short standoff' that led to 1 arrested

DENVER (KDVR) — A 34-year-old man was taken into police custody on several counts of domestic violence after a brief standoff Tuesday morning, that caused some residents to be evacuated from their residences.

According to the Boulder Police Department, officers located a suspect wanted on domestic violence charges in an apartment in the 2800 block of Sundown Lane. The complex is just off 28th Street, (also part of U.S. 36, which becomes a local road in Boulder), and a few blocks north of Colorado Avenue.

The incident started at about 11 a.m., and police said that initial efforts to communicate with the suspect and safely take him into custody "did not work." That led to the department activating its SWAT team around 11:45 a.m.

Boulder police made contact with and evacuated some residents of the apartment complex while the incident was underway. It's unclear how many residents were evacuated, or how long they were evacuated.

The agency said that "after a short standoff," the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident. The agency posted on X at about 2:30 p.m., reporting police activity in the area and saying there was no risk to the public.

Police reported that James Zachariah Jones, 34, was placed in jail for domestic violence-related charges of:

• Second-degree assault, a felony
• Third-degree assault, a misdemeanor
• False imprisonment, a misdemeanor

Jones also had an active warrant for failing to appear out of Pitkin County, which was based on a case with unrelated third-degree assault charges from an incident in that jurisdiction, according to the Boulder agency.