An Atlantic City man was arrested Wednesday, after a child custody exchange turned into an armed standoff in the city's Venice Park section.
The hours-long incident that included evacuating residents and closing the Venice Park bridge ended with no injuries and a replica handgun recovered.
Officers were called to the 1800 block of North Ohio Avenue just after 4 p.m. for a child custody dispute and violation of a civil court order, Lt. Kevin Fair said.
Henry Dean, 50, was supposed to be exchanging custody of his 6-year-old child, according to the report.
But as officers responded, the call was updated to say the father had pointed a handgun from the door of the residence, causing the child's mother to run as Dean went back inside with the child.
Officers used the police vehicle's public address system to call Dean out of the residence, but were unsuccessful, Fair said.
The department's Emergency Response Team was then called, which includes SWAT and crisis negotiators.
Negotiators contacted Dean who ultimately surrendered and was taken into custody without incident, Fair said.
A search warrant later led to the recovery of the replica handgun.
Dean is charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.
He is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending a hearing.
Dean has a pending violations of a protection order from July, court records show. It was not immediately clear if it involved the same woman.
