Virginia Beach, Va. - A man who was accused of causing a standoff with police at a Virginia Beach home was denied bond in court on Wednesday.
The incident began at approximately 11 p.m. on New Year's Day when police were called to a single family home in the 1500 block of Chilworth Court over a domestic dispute.
When officers attempted to make contact with the occupants, one person 35-year-old Louis Howard Jr. refused to cooperate and would not allow the other occupant to leave the home.
Eventually the victim was able to escape the home, but Howard still refused to come out and the police department's Special Weapons And Tactics Unit was deployed.
At approximately 4:15 a.m. the standoff was peacefully resolved and Howard was taken into custody.
He has been charged with abduction and strangulation.
The Commonwealth says that his girlfriend called police and told them that he choked her to the point of almost passing out twice.
In a jailhouse interview, Howard denied it ever happening.
"I didn`t do anything wrong to these people. They just put me in jail because of what she said," says Howard.
Howard's mother says her son is mentally ill.
"He has mental health issues. He was drinking, he uses the alcohol to sooth his pain so the alcohol brings the manic depression, the fear, the police are trying to get him," says his mother.
She stood by his side in court on Wednesday saying he needs help, not more jail time.
