ROME TOWNSHIP — A Proctorville area man at the center of an almost five-hour standoff will be arraigned this morning at Lawrence County Municipal Court.

Dan Dial, 29, of 108 Fifth Ave., in Rome Township, was taken into custody around 9:30 a.m. Thursday by sheriff’s deputies and the special response team of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He faces charges of domestic violence, possessing a hazardous weapon under a disability and inducing panic.

A call went into the sheriff’s dispatcher at approximately 4:40 a.m. that there was allegedly a domestic violence and possible hostage situation at the house, Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said.

Dial, his wife and three children were in the house. The agencies immediately set up a perimeter around the house, Lawless said. By 6:30 a.m. the wife, whose name has yet to be released, and the children who are between the ages of 2 and 13 years old, left the house and went to a secured area set up by law enforcement.

“Mr. Dial was inside. We (tried to) negotiate and had no contact with him,” the sheriff said.

The decision was then made to enter the home. Deputies first broke a window to try to attract Dial’s attention. He did not respond. He was found in a bedroom asleep and was arrested without incident.

He appeared to have been drinking, Lawless said.

Dial’s wife, who Lawless said had bruises on her arms allegedly the result of an assault, declined medical attention for her and the children. She told deputies the couple had begun arguing in the early morning hours, the sheriff said.

Deputies also confiscated weapons including a shotgun and a hand gun.

Neighborhood residents were evacuated during the standoff.

One resident, who didn’t leave his home during the incident, was a nearby neighbor to the Dials. The man, who declined to give his name, said the family had moved into the neighborhood about six years ago and had recently remodeled the one-story frame house.

He called Dial “ a good guy. He’d come in every evening. He’d cut the grass once in a while. There was nothing wrong. Sweet people, I thought.”