Mobile home resident was talking incoherently, carrying a knife
By:Eve Collins
NORTH HANOVER A seven-hour standoff between police and a mentally unstable mobile home resident resulted after a resident called township police on Christmas Eve to report that a neighbor was behaving irrationally while carrying a knife.
Steven Stein, 43, a resident of the California Village Trailer Park on New Egypt Road was walking around the neighborhood while talking incoherently and carrying a 10-inch butcher knife, said Sgt. Mark Keubler of the North Hanover Police Department.
The neighbor reported that Mr. Stein, who lived alone, was threatening to hurt himself, Sgt. Keubler said.
This was not the first time Mr. Stein has threatened such action, said Sgt. Keubler, who explained there have been a similar incidents, one as recently as September.
Sgt. Keubler said this happens because Mr. Stein has a history of mental instability and sometimes forgets to take his medication.
When police arrived just before 3 p.m., they found Mr. Stein sitting on his porch and smashing things with a hammer. Mr. Stein destroyed a lot of his trailer during the standoff, police said.
The home is now boarded up and "uninhabitable," Sgt. Keubler said.
When police attempted to speak with him, Mr. Stein accused them of trespassing, then retreated into his home and refused to come out, Sgt. Keubler said.
Police attempted to talk Mr. Stein out of the trailer, but gave up after several hours, finally entering the home after 10 p.m. to secure him, Sgt. Keubler said.
Mr. Stein was not charged with any crime. He was taken to the Lester A. Drenk Behavioral Health Center in Mount Holly, where he is receiving the help he needs, Sgt. Keubler said.
Mr. Stein’s mother, who was not named by Sgt. Keubler, said she hoped he would be placed in a supervised group home after his release.
Along with the North Hanover police, responding to the incident were the Jacobstown First Aid and Fire Department, and the State Police Barracks Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists Unit (TEAMS).
The TEAMS Unit is called to assist in a number of tasks, including crisis/hostage situations, according to the New Jersey State Police Web site.
Sgt. Keubler said the TEAMS Unit was called at the beginning of the standoff as a precautionary measure because officials did not know if Mr. Stein had weapons in his home.
The unit was used only after the Police Department had exhausted every other means to get Mr. Stein to come out.
Sgt. Keubler praised all the departments, saying the standoff could have been a tragedy if they had not responded.

