Grand Island man arrested after police standoff involving DHHS child custody case

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – A child is in protective custody and the father behind bars after an hours long police standoff in Grand Island Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Grand Island Police Department, investigators were called around 1:50 p.m. to assist the Department of Health and Human Services with the removal of a child at a home on W Adams St. in Grand Island. 

Police say the child's father, identified as Dennis Acker, refused to let authorities take the child and barricaded himself and the child inside the house. 

Acker wielded a knife and was uncooperative with authorities during several hours of negotiations during the standoff with the child still in the home. 

After more than three hours, negotiators were able to secure the child unharmed. Video from our partners at Local 4 show the child exiting the front door and running into the custody of authorities. 

Later, Acker exited the house on his own and was ordered to the ground before being arrested without further incident. 

Local 4 reports officers fired four impact rounds into the home and deployed gas to help bring the situation to an end.

He faces charges of kidnapping, intentional child abuse, and obstructing a peace officer.