A Hermiston man who barricaded himself in his home during a four-hour standoff with police is in jail today on charges after he allegedly assaulted two women Sunday evening.
The Hermiston Police Department received a report of a domestic disturbance at the 600 block of S.E. Seventh Street around 10:30 p.m. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston said officers found two injured females. Edmiston said Nicolas Pando, 38, assaulted the two women with his fists and a baseball bat. One of the women, age 37, was Pando’s ex-wife. The assault took place when the woman apparently went to get her 4-year-old child. The other woman, age 34, was a friend who went along for support and as a possible witness due to past trouble with Pando.
Edmiston said that instead of peacefully handing over the child, Pando began beating the two women.
Both females were able to escape in a vehicle and Pando retreated inside his house where he refused to communicate with officers.
Operations Capt. Scott Clark and Lt. Randy Studebaker both responded to the scene from their residences. Studebaker is trained in communicating with barricaded subjects and after nearly four hours, Pando exited the residence.
Pando was arrested on four outstanding misdemeanor charges, one count of second-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree aggravated assault, one count of strangulation, one count of menacing, and one count of first-degree criminal mischief.
Both females received treatment for their injuries which consisted of facial abrasions and contusions. The 4-year-old was not injured during the incident. Pando also allegedly caused more than $2,000 in damage to the vehicle.
“These are the types of calls for service nobody in this profession enjoys responding to,” Edmiston said. “There are so many variables involved making every situation unique and officers have to make split-second decisions on the best approach to intervene. Based on the information known, our department was able to take this barricaded subject into custody without any harm to the child, surrounding neighbors or the suspect.”
