REXBURG, ID – A Rexburg man is in custody following an early morning hostage situation that was inadvertently reported through an automated crash notification from a cell phone.

According to the Rexburg Police Department, officers were dispatched at approximately 1:16 a.m. on Friday, June 27, to an apartment complex after receiving an automated alert from a mobile device indicating a crash. As officers arrived, dispatch also received a separate call from children inside a nearby apartment reporting that their mother had been assaulted and was being threatened.

Responding officers located the woman in the parking lot. She told authorities she had been held hostage for over an hour by a man experiencing a mental health crisis. The suspect had reportedly taken her phone and thrown it with enough force to trigger the crash notification that initially brought police to the scene.

The suspect was later found hiding in the backseat of a vehicle parked nearby. Officers said he refused to follow commands and had allegedly made statements about wanting to kill the victim and provoking officers to use deadly force.

A perimeter was established with assistance from Madison County Sheriff’s deputies while negotiators attempted to de-escalate the situation. After several hours, the suspect ultimately surrendered without further incident.

He was medically evaluated before being booked into the Madison County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and resisting or obstructing officers. The investigation remains ongoing.