Toledo Police Sgt. Joe Okos helped de-escalate an armed standoff in the fall involving a military veteran wanted for making threats to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I got him outside and just talked to him. … During our whole conversation, he had a loaded rifle approximately 15 feet behind him. Within 20 feet of that was a pistol,” Sgt. Okos said.
Sgt. Okos used his experience as a military veteran — and training in the Lucas County Veteran Response Team — to connect with the man and defuse a dangerous situation…