SWAT standoff at Frisco home ends with suspect's arrest

FRISCO, Texas - A SWAT standoff in a Frisco neighborhood ended peacefully on Wednesday morning. The suspect was arrested and no one was hurt.

What we know:

Frisco police said they got an automated license plate reader alert around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning regarding a stolen vehicle near the intersection of Stonebrook Parkway and Dallas Parkway.

Responding officers located the vehicle and tried to pull it over. But the driver, later identified as 42-year-old Nima Ghani, allegedly refused to stop and a brief chase ensued.

Ghani abandoned the vehicle in the 7100 block of Fieldstone Drive, ran from officers, and barricaded himself inside his family's home.

A SWAT team and negotiators were called to the scene and remained there for hours. Then around noon, they spotted the suspect in a bush near the house.

"They began their procedures for clearing the residence with all the great technology we have like drones and robots to make sure that our officers are safe. And after they did that, they noticed there was something moving in a bush that's right behind me where the crape myrtle is, and they identified it was the suspect we were looking for that had stolen the vehicle," said Frisco Police Deputy Chief John Skertich.

Ghani was arrested without incident and taken to the Frisco jail. 

He's now charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, evading arrest, and drug possession charges.

No one was hurt.

What they're saying:

Frisco police said this was an isolated incident and there was no threat to the general public.

However, they are always hopeful that a suspect will surrender before the situation gets out of hand.

"It’s always best to come into custody before anyone gets hurt or there’s any additional charges. So, yes, we always want a peaceful resolution to all of these incidents," Skertich said.

Local perspective:

Residents in the usually quiet Frisco neighborhood said this was not how they expected their year to end.

Donna Hall was sitting at home working when something outside caught her attention.

"So sure enough, it's my freaking neighbor. I couldn't believe it," she said. "Ten minutes later, there's helicopters, and then there are sirens, and everybody's like going crazy in the neighborhood. And then one thing led to another and we're figuring there's some kind of manhunt," she said.

Hall told her husband to lock the doors as a precaution. She and her husband weren't sure what to think.

After hours of watching from across the street, they thought it was finally over. But then the police saw something nearby.

"So I go sit down, and then not five minutes later they swarm in and the guy was hiding in the bushes," she said.

Another neighbor watched it all unfold right in front of his window.

"We were inside the house actually right in that window right there and the guy walks out of the bush right their and he faces my dad and all the guns start pointing at him," Vitor Costa said. 

The neighbors said it was a lot of excitement for just a stolen car.