Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Man charged after police standoff
Ex-girlfriend held hostage
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — At 5-feet-6, 120 pounds, wearing round eyeglasses and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, Joseph Burkett appeared less than menacing as he stood in a Hamilton courtroom Tuesday.
But authorities allege that, while toting a gun Monday, he terrified his brother, held his ex-girlfriend hostage and panicked his neighbors in Butler County's Union Township.
A standoff between Mr. Burkett and police ended peacefully, seven hours after it began with the breathless plea of his brother to a 911 dispatcher: “My brother's chasing me with a gun. I need Union Township, Butler County, West Chester police department!”
“I'm scared ... really scared,” Michael Burkett, 23, of St. Bernard, told the dispatcher.
Joseph Burkett, 22, on Tuesday was charged with four offenses as a result of Monday's incident: inducing panic; felonious assault for the alleged attack on his brother; and domestic violence and kidnapping involving Terrie Dellatte, 20, identified as his ex-girlfriend on police reports.
County Area Court Judge Robert Hendrickson, who usually sits on the West Chester bench, on Tuesday held court in Hamilton. He ordered that the suspect must post bond of $32,050 in cash if he is to be released from the Butler County Jail.
Mr. Burkett, said to be unemployed, filed paperwork indicating he cannot afford an attorney and needs the court to appoint one for him. A preliminary hearing is set for 2 p.m. Monday at Butler County Area II Court in West Chester.
Mr. Burkett's parents and Ms. Dellatte didn't return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Friends on Monday said Mr. Burkett was drifting through life and felt overwhelmed by troubles with his parents, ex-girlfriend and unemployment. Court records list “various self-inflicted cutting scars” among his distinguishing features.
Mr. Burkett is scheduled to appear in court again today to face judgment and sentencing on two previous charges: carrying a concealed weapon and possession of criminal tools.
He earlier had pleaded no contest to those charges.
The charges stemmed from a September incident in Liberty Township, where police say they caught him and a friend in possession of a lockblade knife and “numerous tools and articles used in criminal theft offenses.”
Police records show several other minor run-ins with the law. Warrants were issued for his arrest recently after he failed to appear on charges that his bicycle lacked proper signaling devices and that he was driving a car with fictitious license plates.
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