Daytona Beach police were at the scene of a standoff Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Hotel after a man barricaded himself inside his room armed with a hand grenade, investigators said.
"He was the only person inside of the room. There were initial reports that there may have been a female inside the room that was held custody. We were able to quickly dispel that," said Daytona Beach Police Deputy Chief Jakari Young.
The hotel was evacuated as a precaution.
Investigators identified the man as David Allen, 45, of Atlantic City.
Around 1:30 p.m., officials arrested Allen after he reportedly asked them for a soda. They brought him one, placed it outside his room, then shocked him with a Taser when he came out to get it.
"We sat the Coke outside in the hallway, and we convinced him to come out and grab the Coke, at which time we were able to tase him and then safely get him into custody," Young said.
Investigators said they found a grenade with him but it was a dummy. He did not have a hostage in the room with him, according to officials.
"Realistically, he was no real threat, but we still had to take the necessary precautions just to be on the safe side," Young said.
Officers were able to use a drone to get a vantage point that they would not be able to get otherwise.
"He would move from the room to the balcony. He'd pop out into the hallway, back into the room, back onto the balcony, but he was never freely roaming about the hotel," Young said. "The drone also helped figure out the grenade. We were able to zoom in on it, and we could see it in his hand and we can see that it was hollowed out at the bottom."
Police cleared the scene, and workers and guests were allowed back inside the hotel.
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