By Pat Culverhouse

Eight charges, including seven for distribution of illegal narcotics, have been filed against a Minden man arrested following a standoff Monday at his residence in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Dr.

Samuel E. Elkins, 51, was taken into custody after members of the Minden Police Department’s Special Response Team enforcing warrants forcefully entered the residence and found him hiding in a bedroom.

Minden Chief of Police Jared McIver said Elkins was arrested on four warrants charging him with four counts of distribution of CDS Sch. I (synthetic marijuana) and three for distribution of CDS Sch. II (methamphetamines). He is also charged with felon in possession of a firearm.

Elkins is reportedly being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on bonds totaling $175,000.

McIver said MPD Detective Lt. Kenny James received information that Elkins was inside the residence, and officers surrounded the mobile home just before 10 a.m. Elkins reportedly ignored repeated orders to exit the residence.

Gas cylinders were fired into the residence in attempt to remove him, but he remained inside until SRT members, accompanied by the department’s K9 team, entered around 11 a.m. Elkins reportedly surrendered without incident.

During a search of the home, officers reportedly recovered a 9MM handgun, live rounds of ammunition and three prescription bottles with assorted pills in the bedroom.

Elkins’ criminal history showed he had previously been convicted and sentenced in 2020 to five years in prison for illegal use of weapons during a crime of violence.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.