A 48-year-old man is behind bars after he allegedly held an elderly woman hostage in a Kissimmee motel room on Monday, leading to an hours-long standoff with Osceola County deputies.
Shortly before noon on Monday, October 13, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a “domestic situation” at the Heritage Park Inn located at 2050 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee, according to OCSO.
The sheriff’s office learned that two men – Mark Anthony Vazquez and the male victim – had gotten into a physical altercation inside one of the motel rooms. Vazquez then allegedly threatened to harm the victim, who managed to escape from the motel room and contact law enforcement.
The victim told deputies that Vazquez had allegedly “restrained, beaten, and cut [him] with a knife” during an altercation that occurred the previous night. According to OCSO, the victim was briefly hospitalized for treatment of “visible injuries.”
OCSO stated that after the male victim fled from the incident location on Monday afternoon, Vazquez allegedly barricaded himself inside the motel room with a 74-year-old female family friend and refused to let her leave.
Members of the OCSO SWAT team soon arrived on-scene and established a perimeter around the motel. Hostage negotiators also communicated with Vazquez for more than five hours while attempting to de-escalate the situation, according to the sheriff’s office.
While speaking with negotiators, Vazquez allegedly requested a pizza and a wheelchair for the female victim. Both items were delivered to the front of the motel room.
At around 5:45 p.m. on Monday, the standoff came to an end when Vazquez surrendered to deputies. He was then taken into custody without further incident.
The female victim was unharmed.
Vazquez was placed under arrest and booked into Osceola County Jail, where he is currently being held without bond. He is currently being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment of a person, and failure to register as a sex offender in Osceola County.
“Additional charges are pending the outcome of this ongoing investigation,” said OCSO in a media release.