Former Policeman, Teen Arrested After Ga. Standoff

Police said Arce-Perez and the baby were abducted from their home in Columbia, S.C., Saturday evening. A missing child alert was issued, and authorities learned Dietz might be headed toward Atlanta.

An unidentified man holds an infant as he emerges from a hotel room following a standoff in Madison,...

An unidentified man holds an infant as he emerges from a hotel room following a standoff in Madison, Ga., Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. A former South Carolina policeman holding an infant and two women hostage in a motel surrendered peacefully Monday after a 13-hour standoff. Authorities said David Dietz was suspected of kidnapping the three Saturday night in West Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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The standoff started Sunday night after Georgia State Patrol officers spotted the car mentioned in the alert in the motel parking lot.

It wasn't the former police officer's first run-in with the law. South Carolina police reports showed authorities were called twice last year to domestic disturbances between Dietz and Arce-Perez.

Police in West Columbia were called to the home where Arce-Perez lived in December after the woman claimed Dietz threatened her.

"She stated that he called her wanting to see the baby even if he had to kick the door in," West Columbia chief Dennis Tyndall said.

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An incident report filed in May by the Richland County, S.C. Sheriff's Department says Dietz was arrested for criminal domestic violence after he tried to force then-pregnant Arce-Perez to leave her apartment with him and pointed a gun at her brother, threatening to shoot if he tried to intervene. A judge dismissed charges in that case when Arce-Perez didn't show up for a hearing, said department spokesman Chris Cowan.

Columbia police spokesman Brick Lewis said Dietz was hired by the department in June 2006 but resigned in October 2006 without giving a reason and on good terms.

Dietz also worked as a probation officer until August 2007, said Pete O'Boyle, a spokesman for the state's probation department.

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Associated Press writer Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia, S.C., and AP photographer John Bazemore in Madison contributed to this report.

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