A 42-year-old Hutchinson man arrested back in January after a brief standoff with police and arrested again in March on multiple charges of stalking and violation of a protection order has been found competent for the case to proceed. Michael Meeks had been ordered to Larned for further test of his mental health back in March.

He had been deemed incompetent to stand trial in the case from January, and when the additional charges were filed, Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen ordered he be sent to Larned for another evaluation. But, the case has again been scheduled for a preliminary hearing. That could mean that he has been found competent.

Meeks was arrested at gun-point back on March 10 on suspicion of 8-counts of stalking, 8-counts of violation of a protection from abuse order, 7-counts of harassment by phone, criminal trespass, and felony flee and elude.

The victim in this latest case apparently called police that Meeks was at her home, and police arrived, but he had already left. She gave a description of his vehicle and they found it at his home. They didn’t make contact until additional officers arrived. But, he then got in his pickup and left, leading to a brief chase with police at high speeds. He finally stopped after nearly hitting two pedestrians. The stop occurring at 17th & Severance, where police drew their weapons and he surrendered peacefully.

In his other case, he is charged with kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, criminal threat and battery.

According to police, several 911 calls came in reporting a woman being forced into a home. When police knocked on the door, the women opened the door about two inches and said everything was “okay”. The door was then slammed shut, at which time police forced their way in, and took Meeks into custody.

The victim later revealed that Meeks was standing next to her while she was at the door, with a sawed off shot gun pointed at police. The weapon was found hidden behind a couch. There were also reports that he may have fired the shotgun through the door.

The two officers involved include Jamie Schoenhoff, and Josh Radloff.

A hearing has been scheduled for the two cases in from of Judge McEwen for Thursday afternoon, however, as always, hearing dates and times are always subject to change.