Man charged in domestic incident involving SWAT in Stearns County

Emily Baude KSTP

(Credit: Stearns County Jail)

A Melrose man has been charged after Stearns County law enforcement arrested him on Monday following a standoff.

Anthony Joseph Vankirk was charged with two counts of threats of violence and one count of domestic assault, according to a criminal complaint.

The charges stem from what started as a domestic incident at around 9 a.m. in Meire Grove in which a woman called police when the man she was staying with, Vankirk, locked her out of her apartment.

The woman told police Vankirk let her in, but was verbally aggressive, swinging a hatchet around and grabbing her by the shoulders.

Officials say law enforcement tried to make contact with Vankirk from the hallway for over an hour before a SWAT team was called in and the community was notified to shelter in place.

For several more hours, law enforcement and officials tried to get in contact with Vankirk without success.

At 1 p.m., the SWAT team forced open an apartment door and were able to communicate better with Vankirk, according to Stearns County officials. He eventually left the apartment and was arrested.

Law enforcement officials say Vankirk also had an arrest warrant out for second-degree arson in connection with an incident in Albany in August of 2022.

Vankirk had a first appearance at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday.