A tense police standoff with suspects holed up inside a New Jersey hotel lasted for hours Thursday before police took three men into custody.
It's not clear why police were called to La Quinta Inn and Suites in Clifton late afternoon. Police presence quickly swelled, with Clifton police, FBI, armored SWAT and emergency service unit trucks filling the parking lot.
A cellphone video taken by one hotel guest at her window showed police in bulletproof vests approaching the hotel, armed with rifles.
"I opened up the window, there's like seven guys with rifles running across the building," said Anna Mincey. "They're banging on the doors, 'Police, police!'"
"Two guys with huge rifles bust in the door and just like, 'Get out,'" she said. "It turned out as they were going around, two of the guys turned up inside people's hotel rooms. They must have knocked on people's doors and forced themselves inside."
Taylor Chante, who works inside a restaurant at the hotel, said she was told the suspects were wanted in an armed robbery of a taxi driver and were hiding in the hotel.
"They told us, 'Do not let anybody in,'" she said. "It was a bit nerve-wracking."
Local
The standoff lasted about five hours before three men were taken into custody. Police have not made any official comment on the incident.
