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Top Stories Sunday, August 13, 2000

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^                       | The lady is the dress is the one who had the gun for 6 hours. Reining in renters  Ithaca, N.Y., a college town that has a lot in common with Burlington, has long had a limit other stories listed here.

LOCAL: Armed woman holds four people hostage  A handgun-wielding woman upset with the way she thought the state was handling her son's custody case held four people hostage Saturday at a residential home for troubled youths in Winooski.  Beyond Tupperware  But researchers  other stories listed here.

 
 
 

LOCAL: Armed woman holds four people hostage  By Brent Hallenbeck  Free Press Staff Writer WINOOSKI -- A handgun-wielding woman upset with the way she thought the state was handling her son's custody case held four people hostage Saturday at a residential home for troubled youths, according to Winooski police.  Deborah Farris, 33, of Highgate Center was jailed on a charge of unlawful restraint following the six-hour standoff at the Northeastern Family Institute on Main Street, across from the Winooski Educational Center, police said.  The standoff ended peacefully with Farris' surrender to police just after 2 p.m. Saturday. All but one hostage -- Richard Ames, a counselor police credited with helping to defuse the situation -- had been freed by the time Farris surrendered. Five youths staying at the home were evacuated soon after Farris arrived there at about 8 a.m. Saturday.  Farris was worried the state Social and Rehabilitation Services office in St. Albans was going to turn her son over to his father and stepmother, Winooski Police Chief Steve McQueen said. Farris' 13-year-old son, Brian, was one of five youths in the home when Farris arrived, and McQueen said Farris wanted her son to stay at the NFI home.  "She felt the need to take this drastic step because of her unhappiness with the SRS office in St. Albans," McQueen said. SRS Commissioner William Young could not be reached for comment Saturday.  According to an affidavit by Winooski police, Farris was angry her son's stepmother, Irene Mason, had married Farris' ex-husband, Jeffrey Mason. Police said Farris was waiting for the Masons to arrive at the NFI home to pick up her son. She wanted to kill Irene Mason "so she couldn't hurt her son anymore, and then was going to kill herself," a police report said. Jeffrey HOSTAGES7B HOSTAGES: Woman surrenders peacefully in Winooski 1B Mason has custody of the boy, McQueen said.  More than 30 officers from Winooski, Colchester, Essex, Milton, Burlington, the University of Vermont, Vermont State Police and the Chittenden County Sheriff's Department were at the scene. Traffic was blocked off for six hours between Tigan Street and Exit 16 of Interstate 89 while police wearing camouflage and holding shields surrounded the three-story brown clapboard building.  Lianne Tuomey, a part-time Winooski officer and full-time lieutenant for Burlington police, negotiated for about four hours by phone with Farris before the woman agreed to surrender. Farris, wearing a blue floral-patterned long dress and holding a cup of coffee, hugged Tuomey on the sidewalk outside the home following her surrender.  Ames, wearing a blue T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes, was later seen talking with police outside the home, clasping his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair.  NFI of Vermont operates 13 residential homes for at-risk youths, said Christine Mobley, director of administration for the Williston-based organization. She said this was the first hostage situation in NFI's 15-year history in Vermont.  The homes are for youths who have had troubles with their families and in some occasions with the law. The buildings are locked down, and staff members hold the only keys. Parents and other visitors can come in the front entrance to the reception area.  "It's really designed for keeping people from getting out," McQueen said, "not from getting in."  According to the police affidavit, Ames first saw Farris walk in the front door of the building at about 8 a.m. He eventually heard her say, "You are going to have to stay where I can keep an eye on you," and then saw her wave a handgun near him and three other employees.  Ames told Farris they would unplug the phones, but they unplugged only two -- one in the office where she was holding them hostage and one in the living room next to the office. They then moved to the living room, and another employee was able to leave the room without Farris' knowing to call 911 for help.  Ames told police Farris demanded to see her son, who she knew was in the building. Employees told her he was still asleep and they didn't want to wake the youths.  Two counselors, Heather Lynch and Jaime Canton, went to the area where the youths were sleeping and urged them to get up and get dressed for a fire drill. The two women and five youths -- 13-year-old Brian, a 14-year-old boy and three girls ages 11, 16 and 17 -- left through a front door without Farris' knowing, according to the affidavit.  Lynch, reached by phone late Saturday afternoon, declined comment.  Farris was left in the home with two counselors, Ames and Cody Carter. Farris continued to demand to see her son, according to the affidavit, and Carter said he'd go see what the holdup was. He then left the building.  "The staff members really kept their heads on their shoulders," McQueen said.  Ames told police Farris finally became aware something was wrong when Carter did not return, and Ames told her they were now alone in the building. Farris became upset, Ames told police, and he was afraid she might do "something stupid.  "He stated that she had been making verbal threats about killing herself and killing the step-mother Irene Mason whom she was angry at for splitting up her family and marrying her ex-husband Jeffrey Mason," according to the affidavit.  Tuomey said in her police report she asked Farris on many occasions to release Ames, but she refused until her eventual surrender.  McQueen said police told Farris her son would remain in an NFI home for now and would not be sent to his father's house.