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Man involved in standoff with Bloomington police appears in court

By Ethan Sandweiss

Posted February 13, 2025

Police attempted to arrest Samuel Baumgartner Jr. last Friday on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.   (Brandon Smith / IPB News)

A man who is accused of taking his mother hostage during a seven-hour armed stand-off with law enforcement last week had a preliminary hearing Thursday at the Monroe County justice building. 

Police attempted to arrest Samuel Baumgartner Jr. last Friday on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.  

From 1:15 to 8:33 p.m., he held off police from three agencies: the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomington Police Department and Indiana State Police. 

Baumgartner now faces these additional charges: unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer, criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, resisting law enforcement using a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm at another and intimidation with a deadly weapon. 

At his first court appearance, Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff asked him whether he understood the charges. 

“I understand what they’re trying to say,” Baumgartner said. 

He then returned to the county jail. 

According to a probable cause affidavit, police arrived at Homewood Suites where Baumgartner was sharing a room with his mother and a dog. When he didn’t respond to knocks on the door, officers obtained a search warrant. 

Deputy Jeff Brown opened the door with a master key, finding Baumgartner fortified behind a chair with a gun leveled at the doorway. His mother was locked in the back room of the suite. 

Authorities evacuated the hotel staff and guests, surrounding the building with police vehicles, including the Bloomington Police Department’s bearcat, and stationing a sharpshooter on the roof of the Honda dealership next door. 

“Bloomington Police Department CIRT (Critical Incident Response Team) had to severely damage the hotel room to get Mrs. Baumgartner out,” states the probable cause affidavit.

The team cut holes in the drywall and damaged the hotel exterior to remove Baumgartner’s mother from the back bedroom, and she told officers her son had a long firearm they didn’t previously know about. At that point, police asked reporters from WFIU/WTIU to move out of line of site of Baumgartner’s window. 

After seven hours and several police stun grenades, he finally surrendered. 

Baumgartner’s next court date is scheduled for March 3. 