East Dublin police standoff ends peacefully as SWAT moves in

A police standoff Sunday with a man barricaded in an East Dublin motel ended after several tense hours when the suspect surrendered as SWAT team members appeared set to move in.

Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies swarmed the Canady Plaza motel late  Sunday morning and surrounded a free-standing section of the business. Most of them, even the state game wardens there, were heavily armed and wearing body armor. 

Next door, at the Cloverleaf restaurant, an armored Georgia State Patrol SWAT vehicle was parked in toward the rear of the motel room, as if ready to ram-rod the room if need be. Police turned away the restaurant’s usual churchgoing lunch crowd, which was forced to join the procession of curious motorists creeping down Central Avenue as the standoff turned spectacle.

Across the street, dozens of people gathered on the sidewalk, watching or recording the incident on cellphones, and laughing when one driver blared the “COPS” television theme, “Bad boys, bad boys … whatcha gonna do?” on his radio.

A smaller group of people, possibly other residents but some of them the man’s family and friends, were allowed to stay on the property and were huddled near rooms far across the hotel parking lot. Another woman approached police near the restaurant, claiming to be the man’s sister, but was told to wait across the street.

SWAT team members at times took position the front of the hotel room. They were backed by other state troopers, East Dublin and Dublin police, Laurens County sheriff’s deputies and the Sheriff’s Response Team and state game wardens. 

After about three hours, lawmen appeared ready storm the room. Several SWAT members walked to the armored vehicle for more gear, and one returned with a body shield.

“There they go,” said someone across the street.

As officers were taking position, the man walked out of the room and was arrested without incident or resistance. Handcuffed and puffing on a cigarette, he was led across the parking lot where he was allowed a prolonged goodbye with his family.

  The man, Christopher Coley, 36, of East Dublin, was booked at the county jail on charges of aggravated stalking and on a hold on another undisclosed warrant.