On Wednesday, Feb. 27, Mandan Police officers were called to an apartment on the 600 block of Ninth Street N.W. at 5:30 a.m. to investigate an alleged assault.

A 21-year-old female said she had been assaulted and bound with duct tape by a  neighbor in her apartment complex four hours earlier, while she was watching television in the neighbor’s apartment.

The neighbor, Robert Gray, 53, has a history of criminal charges that includes homicide, robbery and burglary. He was charged with terrorizing, aggravated assault and felonious restraint, all Class C felonies, following last Wednesday’s incident.

The man is currently in intensive care in a Bismarck intensive care unit after sustaining self-inflicted injuries during a standoff with the officers. He was arrested around 10 a.m. that day by West Dakota SWAT members after a standoff took place.

The female victim said she was watching television with Gray from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, when she playfully nudged him. He became angry and threw her down on a bed and pinned her arms. She was able to get free by biting his finger.

Gray then struck her in the face, which knocked out a tooth, then knocked her to the ground and duct taped her hands. He then left the room.

The female tried to get to a cell phone, but Gray returned and saw her, and attempted to strangle her. She was able to talk him down and managed to convince him to let her go, said Mandan Police Deputy Chief Paul Leingang.

She then left Gray’s apartment and sent a text message to her aunt, for fear that Gray may hear her call the police department. The victim’s aunt then called the police.

Officers that arrived on the scene took the female’s statement and took her to a Bismarck hospital, where she was treated and released.

Other officers attempted to speak with Gray, who responded by making threats with a firearm.

The SWAT team was then brought in, and traffic around the building was rerouted. The neighboring Mandan High School was then contacted to stop student traffic in and around the building. Leingang said there was no immediate threat to the high school. Classrooms were secured from 8:40 to 9:50 a.m.

Negotiators continued to attempt communication with Gray, who told them that he had injured himself.

Officers entered his apartment to find he had a self-inflicted wound to his throat. He was placed under arrest and taken to the Bismarck hospital. He is currently being supervised by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.

-Brian L. Gray