Saint charged following police standoff

A former Russellville police officer who left the department in 2004 for health reasons was arrested this week, three days after he engaged area law enforcement in a three-hour standoff at his residence.

Following a mental evaluation at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Robert Earl Saint, 43, 196 Ash Ave., Russellville, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of making a terrorist threat.

Authorities said the arrest stems from an incident that took place Monday evening at Saint’s residence near the Russellville Park and Recreation Center.

According to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett, officers received a call that Saint was threatening to harm himself and could possibly harm others.

When officers arrived on the scene and made contact with Saint outside his residence, they observed he was armed with a .12 gauge shotgun.

Hargett said Saint went back inside his residence and refused to put down his gun or to come outside, so the Franklin County Special Response Team (SRT) was activated because of their training in similar situations.

At that time, authorities also evacuated the surrounding residences and the Russellville Park and Rec Center as a precautionary measure, which Hargett said was in the best interest of the safety of the people in the area.

After more than three hours of negotiations, officers were able to take Saint into custody without incident at 9:45 p.m.

According to officials, Saint had already shot his weapon inside his residence before authorities arrived on the scene and he posed a serious threat to those in the surrounding area. He also threatened law enforcement officers when they arrived at his residence.

Authorities said the serious nature of the incident and the fact that an entire neighborhood and city building had to be evacuated were factors that prompted the arrest charges.

Saint remains in custody at the Franklin County Jail on a $50,000 bond.