Eviction Leads to Standoff in Clovis; Father and Son Arrested

CLOVIS – What started out as an attempt to serve an eviction notice ended in two men being arrested after a seven-hour standoff with law enforcement.

Dennis Napier and Sean Napier

A group of civil enforcement deputies were trying to serve the eviction notice around 9 a.m. Wednesday at a home on Griffith near Fowler Avenue, a half-block east of Miramonte Elementary School in Clovis. The house was in the final stages of foreclosure and the two men living there, 60-year-old Dennis Napier and 35-year-old Sean Napier, were unwilling to move out.

The father and son barricaded themselves in the house by securing the doors and windows with screws and nails, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Chris Curtice said.

The SWAT team was called out as an extra precaution because the Napiers were known by authorities to have a violent past.

“Both have had some arrests for some violent felonies including assault with a deadly weapon,” Curtice said. “I know that a couple of years ago, ATF served a search warrant at the residence and removed two long guns. And we know that there at least seven guns registered to the elder suspect, Dennis Napier.”

Curtice also said that someone trying to serve foreclosure papers at the home last month saw that the house was barricaded from the inside.

Sometime in the afternoon, the SWAT team took control of the house and went through it room by room. By 4 p.m., they had the two suspects confined to a back room, authorities said.

Dennis Napier was hurt when he challenged a police dog and was then hit by a Taser wielded by SWAT members. Sean Napier gave up after his father was injured.

Both men were arrested and booked for resisting arrest.

Read More:

CBS 47: Clovis Eviction Notice Turns into Standoff

Fresno Bee: Pair Arrested After SWAT Standoff in Clovis