Barricaded gunman in 1100 block of Grandview Blvd. - SCPD #22-3625

Feb. 10 at 5:27 p.m. - On February 10 at 11:33 a.m. a detective and officers with the Sioux City Police Department located an armed robbery suspect at 14th and Summit St. in Sioux City.

The suspect, who was identified as 36-year-old Emanuel L. Pleitez, was detained by officers to be transported the police station for questioning.

Officers handcuffed Pleitez behind his back and patted him down before placing him in the back of a patrol car.

While driving to the station, in the 1100 block of Grandview, Pleitez told the officer that he had a gun and was going to shoot.

The officer, who was by herself, immediately stopped her car and requested assistance. When another officer arrived on scene, they looked in the back seat and saw that Pleitez, who was still handcuffed behind his back, was armed with a sub-compact style handgun.

Officers backed away and established a perimeter as there was no safe way to remove Pleitez from the car. As additional resources arrived, trained Crisis Negotiators began speaking with him.

As this incident was occurring near a high school, the department contacted the school as a precaution and requested that they shelter in place so that a student would not wander out of the school and into the scene active incident scene.

Negotiations continued for over an hour to get Pleitez to drop the gun and surrender. When it appeared that negotiations were not working, officers and a Woodbury County Deputy approached the car in order to deploy a chemical munition.

As officers neared the car, Pleitez said he was going to shoot and shots could be heard coming from within the car. Officers deployed tear gas into the car through a window he had broken out. Within seconds, he surrendered without further resistance.

Pleitez was immediately provided aid and transported to MercyOne Medical Center to be treated for exposure to chemical irritants and minor laceration from the broken window glass.

As shots had been fired at officers, the Sioux City Police Department requested that the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation conduct the investigation of the shooting.

No Sioux City Police Officers or Woodbury County Deputies fired their weapons during this incident and no one was injured when the shots were fired.

An internal review of this incident will also be conducted by the Sioux City Police Department.

The robbery that Pleitez was being sought for had occurred on January 30 in the Greenville area of Sioux City. That investigation is on-going at this time.

At the time of this release, Pleitez was still being evaluated at the hospital.

As another agency is investigating this matter, we are unable to release any additional information at this time.