GREENWOOD VILLAGE - Residents surrounding a home destroyed in last week's standoff were offered help from the City of Greenwood Village Wednesday.
The city said it will pay insurance deductibles for anyone from the surrounding homes in the 4200 block of Alton Street who suffered property damage during the 18-hour standoff that started Wednesday.
Greenwood Village had also offered to pay the homeowner, Leo Lech's, deductible and pay the tenant, Lech's son, until he can find new housing. The city offered the son $5,000 for temporary housing.
The home was the scene of an armed standoff with 33-year-old Robert Seacat. He was taken into custody after keeping police at bay for 18 hours. The home was destroyed when a SWAT team used explosive charges and a tactical vehicle to open up portions of the structure to find Seacat.
Police say Seacat, driving away from a Walmart he allegedly shoplifted from, was high on meth when he tried to strike and kill an Aurora police officer who was responding to the shoplifting call on foot. Police say when Seacat began to hole himself inside the randomly-chosen Greenwood Village house, he fired a shot at officers he saw outside.
Lech talked to 9NEWS last week. He said he was shocked by the damage and felt the police response to the suspect was overblown. His insurance will cover the cost to rebuild the home.
The Greenwood Village Police Department defended its actions. Police commander Dustin Varney said Monday the department has taken a lot of heat over how they responded to the standoff.
"My mission is to get that individual out unharmed and make sure my team and everyone else around including the community goes home unharmed," Varney said Monday. "Sometimes that means property gets damaged, and I am sorry for that."
Seacat was still in the hospital as of Monday for injuries police say are not related to the standoff. He is expected to face a long list of charges including attempted murder of a police officer.
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
