YCSO received a 911 call reporting a man, later identified as 73-year-old Virgil Nagel, had made death threats in Prescott.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — A man who reportedly made death threats and barricaded himself in a Prescott home was arrested Saturday. According to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
On Saturday, July 13, YCSO received 911 calls in the Diamond Valley area of Prescott reporting a man making death threats, including a call from the man himself, who allegedly threatened violence to public safety dispatchers. The suspect, identified as 73-year-old Virgil Nagel, has a criminal record for aggravated assault and threatening police.
Authorities said Nagel allegedly made death threats to residents of a neighboring nursing home, which then went on a lockdown to protect residents from harm.
Patrol officers learned Nagel was inside the home, but he refused to come outside when officers attempted to call him.
According to authorities, YCSO dispatchers received another call from an individual known to Nagel. The caller claimed to have had a recent conversation with the suspect, who stated that the suspect had no intention of returning to jail and would force a deadly confrontation if police were to intervene. Authorities also learned that Nagel was highly intoxicated.
According to authorities, Nagel was on felony probation for a 2022 aggravated assault conviction in Yavapai Superior Court for pointing a gun at a neighbor and pulling the trigger (the gun did not fire), and for aggravated assault on a police officer in the 1980s. Due to his criminal history and multiple refusals to leave his home, YCSO and Prescott Valley Police prepared their Quick Response Teams for barricaded situations with dangerous individuals.
After several hours of trying to force Nagel to surrender, authorities deployed a full SWAT team.
When SWAT entered Nagel's home, PVPD deployed a police dog and found Nagel hiding in a room behind a wall with an axe on the floor next to his hand.
Nagel was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment of severe intoxication and injuries sustained during the arrest. Authorities said Nagel will be charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and threatening or menacing.
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