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VIDEO: Former Spencer mayor's standoff with police
Alicia Bean, with a high-powered rifle in her hands, in the back yard of her home in Spencer. Brad Thomas, Salisbury Post
By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER — An armed standoff involving a former Spencer mayor ended without serious injury in the woman's backyard Friday afternoon.
Alicia Bean, who served as mayor from 2005-2007, held law enforcement officers at bay for about an hour before officers tackled her in a storage building behind her house at 218 N. Yadkin Ave.
The incident ended about 3:30 p.m.
During the standoff, Bean had what appeared to be an automatic rifle slung across her shoulders. She periodically shook the weapon in the direction of officers, then alternated between screaming, throwing her hands above her head and moving in and out of the storage building.
Officers snuck around the corner of the building, then tackled Bean inside the structure.
"Whatever happened, I'm just glad it ended peacefully," said the town's current mayor, Jody Everhart, who arrived at the scene just after Bean was taken into custody.
Yadkin Avenue between Harrison and Newton streets was blocked as the situation unfolded. Officers from the Spencer Police Department and the Rowan County Sheriff's Office responded.
Bean also served several terms on the town's Board of Aldermen, serving as Spencer's mayor pro tem before running for mayor in 2005.
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