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Authorities involved in standoff in Rocky Mount

Nash County deputies were trying to serve outstanding warrants on Thomas Austin Rose, 22, when he barricaded himself inside a house, Sheriff Richard Jenkins said.

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ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — A standoff in Rocky Mount involving a man wanted on numerous arrest warrants entered into its eighth hour Monday evening as authorities from several agencies tried to get him to surrender.



Nash County deputies were trying to serve outstanding warrants on Thomas Austin Rose, 22, for a probation violation and a larceny charge when Rose barricaded himself inside a house at 724 Dana Lane, Sheriff Richard Jenkins said.

No one else was inside the house.

Jenkins said authorities had received a tip that Rose was at the house, which belongs to a friend, and that when deputies arrived at around 1:20 p.m., he ran into the house and fired what he thought to be warning shots.

Jenkins said authorities pulled Rose over a couple of weeks ago and that Rose ran off. They had been searching for him since.

Rocky Mount police, the Nash County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina Highway Patrol were on hand Monday evening, including a police negotiator and the police department's Special Response Team.

“The friends that he does have do care about him right now. We want him to do what is right and come out,” said Sara Beane, Rose's friend.

Utility crews were also on standby to cut off power to the house, if needed. Rose turned off his cell phone at about 9 p.m. so officers were using an electronic amplification system to communicate to him.

"It's unnerving. You never know when there might be a shootout with this," said Frank Phelps, a neighbor. "You just never know. I hope it comes along peacefully. He's got to know he can't get out of there."

Rose has a criminal record dating back to 2004, and he has been in and out of jail since 2005, according to court records. Some of his charges were breaking and entering, resisting a public officer and possession of stolen goods.

“Nobody wants to go back to jail and that is probably why he doesn't want to come out,” Beane said.

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