I can't believe something like this has happened in St. Joseph. I live at the corner of 22nd and Faraon, and I witnessed much of the events that unfolded last night. I began watching around 1:15, when I saw an officer crouched down next to her car. When I looked down the street, there were about 8 or 9 police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck. Police cars came and went, and officers carrying large guns walked the streets, most escorting the men into police cars. After all the arrests, it was very quiet. I watched in anticipation, but I didn't see much between the hours of 2:30 and 4:00 A.M. I saw officers go into (or up to) the house several times, but each time they would back out slowly, pointing their guns towards the house. I am just amazed that only one person was really injured. By the amount of security and caution that was taken, it seemed to me like something big was going to happen. I wish that I had stayed awake to see the raid at dawn, but I am glad that police found no one in the home. I was honestly scared that I would wake up to a hundred gunshots outside my window. Great job, St. Joseph Police Department!

Rock on... For not getting that kind of criminal violence in this city, you guys did a heck of a job. It's good to hear nobody died from all fo it and more criminals were placed behind bars. Thanks!

I am impressed as well. I got up and check my daily news and saw this situation unfolding and I was very concerned about people in the area. I am glad to see tax dollars at work and the situation handled so safely and without major injuries. Thanks to all involved to try to keep this city safe. I have always bragged about how safe this city is and when something like this happens it makes you question yourself but thankfully our trained officers made good/quick decisions. Thanks!

GREAT JOB FOR GETTING DRUGS AND DEAD BEETS OFF THE STREETS AND ALSO EVERONE THAT HELPED IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT

Let me guess, these Hispanics were "Guest" in our country?

It's time we start rounding up these illegal aliens and ship them out before a decent "citizen" gets hurt.

a friend's grandchildren live at 22nd and francis. they were told to stay in the basement until it was over or vacate. hmmm her car was in back with police officers and rifles :) so she didn't think she would vacate. they weren't only hispanics mr a.

Great job by SJPD! Imagine if they had taken their sweet time getting there, it would have been really bad! They did a great job on this one, and unfortunately I really feel this is just the beginning of this. It's always went on, it's just that people are getting either braver, or dumber! I doubt those people OWNED that home, so one thing upstanding citizens could do is not rent their homes to dirtbags. Ya know, background checks, credit checks etc. Alot of slumlords don't care where the money comes from and will rent to anyone. Then the poor dogs will probably get euthanized, all because they had dirtbags as owners. Rottweilers and Pit Bulls aren't adoptable, our shelter puts them down. They only give them back to owners, and in this case that probably won't happen. They probably would have made great dogs if given a fair chance. Sad, sad..

Good job, SJPD! Eric Protzman is the bomb! If he were running for sheriff, we might actually see some things change for the better around here!

I think everyone should write Pat Lilly and David Jones a Thank You card for bringing this kind of crap to our town. I was afraid this would happen. Before anyone writes in mad about my statement..... I know we had this in our town before but why invite more of it.

Didn't say they were deb.

Earlier in the year, someone said they did not think there were any gangs in St. Joe.

Well, guess what -

And a lot of thanks can be given to that meat processing plant for bringing this to our community, give them and those that brought it a round of applause.

Oh, generally, it gets worse before it gets better.

Our police department do deserve a real round of applause. It sounds like they defused the situation quite well. Support them - our police, give them your support!

up until the post by poncho i was pleasantly surprised that there was no race bashing. Thank You Deb for pointing out that the paper did state that there were NOT only hispanics. maybe mr america can suggest what to do with those legal black folk who were caught in the net? send them back, too? before i start to get a bunch of guff for that comment, realize that there is such a thing as sarcasm. i guess that skinny white drug dealer i see hanging around on the ave has it made in the shade. why did the N-P feel it was incumbent upon them to even mention race? a drug dealer is a drug dealer is a drug dealer.

good job by the police.

Posted by hcat on August 5, 2008 at 6:07 p.m.

Good job, SJPD! Eric Protzman is the bomb! If he were running for sheriff, we might actually see some things change for the better around here!

Just FYI HCat... Sgt. Eric Protzman is running for sheriff in Andrew County.

mr a, guess you didn't you just pointed out that there were probably illegals that needed to be deported.

My grandchildren were in a house during this stand off, they hid in the basement. 2 of the three had normal stories in fact one said he thought it was because of the storm, but the third, Connor bless his heart, told a story completely different from anything else. God bless his imagination. it was a truly enjoyable story. Thanks to SJPD for acting so quickly, so my grandson could tell me that story.

Yes Mr. America, you certainly made the effort to point out the Hispanics who were obviously in their residence minding their business (whatever that may be) but conveniently left out the black men that tried to break into their residence. Don't suppose they were from INS do you? Hmmm, apparently a drug dealer comes in all colors. I say ship them ALL off.

I didn't say they were all hispanic deb and heritage I don't care what color the illegal aliens are.

We have enough on our plates with our home grown felons I'm just pointing out we don't need to import extra trouble.

i read the comment Mr. A, and the inference from that was they were all hispanic, maybe you could have worded it a little differently. all i know is that my grandchildren were in the area, i don't care if they are black, white green or brown, as long as my grandchildren were safe.

Whenever I read something like this, the image of David Jones wearing a pig snout always pops into my head.

too funny. there is another article regarding this issue nameing the people who were arrested.

re: R13four, protzmans was running for sheriff, until he lost to Bryan Atkins yesterday.

"Posted by BHSGRAD on August 6, 2008 at noon (Suggest removal)
Whenever I read something like this, the image of David Jones wearing a pig snout always pops into my head."

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Who does he work for now?

Yeah, Heartland is a good place for him.

Mr. a well the article said blacks and hispanics, probably not many illegal blacks. to bhsgrad, i don't think he needs to wear a pig snout, the look is natural for him

I don't see what the big deal is. I am hispanic and would like to ship every illegal latino out of this country along with every other illegal alien no matter what country of origin. I see them clearly as people breaking our laws. I'm not giving our local law breakers a free pass either. I just want the best for my family and my community.

and so do i, however making a direct reference probably will get more criticism that support. i am not any happier about the non english speaking (not just hispanics) being here and asking that we accomodate them, why? just like when the tornado hit the house in the southend, i wonder if things would have been differnt had it been a white family with 8 kids and dad not working, if people would have been as sympathetic, i would like to hope we would have been. my dad used to say that caucasians are the minority now, didn't believe him then, but i do now. unfortunately, we are having a big influx of all kinds come up from the kc area who are less than reputable. they think law enforcement in st. joe are a bunch of hicks.