Francis cries for help Four dozen cops answer
Francis cries for help;
Four dozen cops answer
KNOX A call from a modest, cream colored house at 107 Lewis Road drew four dozen police officers on Saturday morning.
Jonathan P. Francis, the lone occupant of the house, called a suicide hotline around 11 a.m. and threatened to kill himself and anyone who arrived with lights on top of his car, meaning police, said Albany County Sheriff James Campbell.
"I can’t justify his actions," said Francis’s father, Jay T. Francis, longtime pastor of the Rock Road Chapel in Knox. "Yet I can say that Saturday doesn’t define who he is."
The standoff, where police with shotguns barricaded Lewis Road for several hours, ended without gunfire after a negotiator talked Francis out of the house.
Francis, 38, a lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for town judge in 2003 and has since been arrested several times, had been drinking and taking drugs on Friday night, Campbell said.
Last month, on April 5, Francis’s license to practice law was suspended indefinitely for failure to complete a drug-treatment program and comply with a subpoena regarding "several complaints of professional misconduct," according to an Appellate Court decision.
Francis was first subpoenaed on Oct. 6, 2006, the decision says. The contents of the subpoena, however, are confidential, said Michael Philip, the courts deputy chief attorney.
Francis entered a treatment program in February or March, but he didnt finish, said his lawyer, James E. Long. On May 1, he was arrested on a felony charge for harassing his wife, which violated an order of protection she had against him. He served about 10 days in jail for the assault, Campbell said.
A year earlier, on Jan. 6, 2006, he was arrested on charges of assaulting his wife, after he allegedly choked her, threatened her with a kitchen knife, and broke a telephone to prevent her from calling the police, according to a sheriffs report.
The couple had been living together, with their three young boys, before this weekend, Long said. Their relationship had been on-and-off, he said. "I’m sure she’d say that they were separated and he’d say they weren’t." His wife could not be reached for comment.
Although Long wasn’t sure what triggered Francis to call the hotline on Saturday, he said, "As I understood it, he came home and found boxes, which indicated that she had moved out and that precipitated his depression."
As State Troopers, officers from the Albany County Sheriffs Department, the Guilderland Police Department, the Altamont Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation blocked off Lewis Road, hauling shotguns from the trunks of their cars, Francis called his lawyer, Long said.
"He just left a message that it was an emergency, to call back. I called back and could not get through to him," he said. Long hasn’t spoken with Francis since he was confined to the Capital District Psychiatric Center, he said.
"He does need help, there’s no question about that," said Francis’s father, who didn’t know where his son was as of Monday night. He hopes his son will decide to get help, he said, a choice that Long said Francis has already made. When asked what Francis’s next move will be, Long said, "To get healthy."
When police made contact with Francis around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon he requested to speak with James T. Campbell Jr., an investigator with the sheriffs department, and the sheriffs son, who had dealt with Francis before.
"J.T. was able to get him to come out with his hands above his head," said Sheriff Campbell, who added that there were negotiators at the scene.
As it turned out, Francis had only two BB guns in the house, Campbell said. He was taken to the psychiatric center and there were no charges.
He’s disappointed with his son’s behavior, said Pastor Francis, but he’d like to reach out to him. He was a good kid, he said, and people can redeem themselves. "Forgiveness can be instant," he said. "It takes a while to build up trust."
