Ruben Peeler’s downstairs neighbor and landlords knew he needed help — help they couldn’t provide.
So they did what they thought they were supposed to do, calling 911 on multiple occasions as the Ypsilanti man’s behavior grew more erratic and their efforts to break through weren’t working. They called again on Jan. 4, reporting to dispatchers that Peeler, 53, was pounding on his neighbor’s door with a “large, long wooden stick.”
They had no idea that call would trigger a more than 30-hour standoff involving multiple law enforcement agencies, a SWAT team, tear gas, a fire hose, a long-range acoustic device, flash-bangs, utility shutoffs and a demolition crew that ripped a hole through the brick exterior of what had been Peeler’s second-floor apartment on West Cross Street before he was subdued and taken into custody…