A man held a 6-year-old child hostage in an apartment in Elizabeth, New Jersey, for more than five hours on Sunday, officials said.
There was a domestic dispute in the home on at Clarkson Avenue and Carteret Street and the child's mother left at about 9 a.m., Elizabeth police said. The mother cooperated with officials, said Kelly Vance, spokeswoman for Mayor J. Christian Bollwage.
"The man stayed there with the 6-year-old and barricaded himself," Bollwage said.
According to Bollwage, he wasn't cooperating with police.
That's when police turned to a suspect's friend, Andre Williams, for help.
"Once I knew they had a bulletproof vest for me I knew that there was the chance that I would have the opportunity to go in and talk to the guy," Williams said.
The hostage situation ended peacefully at about 2:30 p.m., Vance said.
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No weapons were found and the child was unharmed, Vance said.
The man, 38-year-old LeRoy Boyd, was charged with second-degree kidnapping and third-degree possession of cocaine. He's being held at Union County Jail pending a first appearance in the case.
