Charges pending after standoff with police

A criminal charge is pending Sunday against a Center Moriches man who allegedly had a prolonged standoff with police Saturday after barricading himself inside a home with his two young children, Suffolk police said.

Police said Robert Niveyro faces a pending charge of endangering the welfare of a child after the incident, in which officers used a vehicle-mounted ram to enter a home on Stark Drive in Center Moriches early Saturday.

Niveyro had locked himself inside his house with his two young children after a domestic dispute. Niveyro's wife told authorities she feared he might harm himself, police said.

He was taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation, police said, adding that no one was injured.

The children, ages 8 and 5, were put in the custody of their mother.

The incident began about 7:45 p.m. Friday and ended about 4 a.m. Saturday.

Police also sent a robot into the home before a team of officers entered. There were at least three long rifles in the home, police said.

Inwood Road, which leads into Stark Drive at Union Avenue, was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for many hours by yellow-and-black police tape.

People in the street more than a block away reported hearing periodic, amplified calls by police into the house asking the resident to answer the telephone. The calls were often followed by a loud shrilling electronic sound over the loud speaker.

Police said they were only able to establish "intermittent communication" with the man over the course of a few hours, police later said.

No information was immediately available after the incident from police as to whether Niveyro was armed.

With Keith Herbert and Jennifer Barrios