Editor’s note: According to Maricopa Municipal Court records, Meriwether’s outstanding warrants before the barricade situation were for two counts each of fighting and assault with injury after he failed to appear in court May 22 for a hearing related to a Jan. 10, 2023 arrest in Maricopa.

A 31-year-old man faces unlawful flight and pending warrant charges after he barricaded himself in a home for six hours yesterday in the Maricopa Meadows. 

Stephen Meriwether was identified as the suspect arrested after a SWAT unit rushed into the house in the 45000 block of Morning View Lane early yesterday evening. 

Meriwether is being held today in the Pinal County jail. 

Maricopa Police Department investigators said just before noon yesterday cops tried to pull over Meriwether’s car on John Wayne Parkway at Honeycutt Avenue, but he fled the scene. 

Police found his vehicle near the home on Morning View Drive.  

Meriwether “entered the home and barricaded himself in the attic and, subsequently, an upstairs bedroom,” said MPD spokesperson Monica Williams. 

The Pinal County Regional SWAT unit was called to assist at 1:30 p.m. with the support of Chandler police. SWAT team members included Maricopa and Casa Grande police officers and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputies. 

After hours of verbal commands and negotiations for Meriwether to surrender and breaking windows with a battering ram and teargas cannisters, the SWAT unit and a police dog raided the house. 

“The suspect surrendered upon the team’s entry into the home and was taken into custody without incident,” Williams said. “At no time were any shots fired.”