7-hour standoff in South Tahoe ends peacefully

After a nearly seven-hour standoff, a South Lake Tahoe man surrendered to police and was taken into custody.

Officers initially responded to a residence on Paradise Avenue at 6:15pm June 15 because of arguments between neighbors that they say included the suspect brandishing a weapon.

Stephen Shaver, 44, was arrested about 1:30 this morning after police SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Teams wore him down.

No one was injured and no shots were fired.

Officers said the trouble began after Shaver’s unleashed dog attacked a leashed dog being walked by a female neighbor near Shaver’s house. When the woman suggested Shaver control his dog, he reacted violently, coming outside his house and pushing her in the chest, officers said. That’s when Shaver allegedly went to retrieve a shotgun.

The neighbor, according to police, had locked herself inside her home, but Shaver broke through her front door and turned his dog loose inside her house. He then reportedly left with his dog before reappearing with the shotgun outside his front door. He yelled threats from his doorway toward his neighbor while holding the shotgun, but did not discharge it.

Shaver finally surrendered by walking outside his house unarmed.

Officers said they located a marijuana grow inside Shaver’s residence, a loaded shotgun concealed in a large diameter PVC pipe used for hydroponic purposes, chemicals and possible explosive materials.

Shaver was booked at the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe on several felony and misdemeanor charges, including terrorist threats, burglary and brandishing a firearm. He was in custody this morning on $15,000 bail. Officers expect to file more charges after completing the investigation.

Anyone with information about the case, is asked to call the police at (530) 542.6100; reference case No. 1106-1153.