Affidavit: Standoff suspect said he’s ‘El Chapo Jr.’

Daniel Jones shot live Facebook video during Harrison Twp. incident

UPDATE @ 9:45 p.m. (April 8)

During a police standoff, a man bragged he is “the biggest drug dealer in Dayton” and called himself El Chapo Jr. during live Facebook video posts, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.

Daniel E. Jones, 28, was arrested early April 1 following an hourslong standoff at the Meadows of Catalpa apartment complex in Harrison Twp.

According to an affidavit from an FBI task force officer, there were two arrest warrants for Jones, who was caught in early March with a loaded handgun in Middletown following a high-speed pursuit by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. When authorities found where Jones was living, he refused to come out, the affidavit stated. This led to the standoff involving the FBI and a Montgomery County special weapons and tactics team that began sometime before 9 p.m. March 31 and did not end until 1:30 a.m. April 1 after SWAT members used tear gas and a water canon to coax Jones out of the apartment.

During the standoff, Jones called Montgomery County dispatch, and requested that an FBI agent call him. Over several conversations, Jones told the special agent that he was “the biggest drug dealer in Dayton” and provided information on his Mexican heroin supplier, according to the court document.

Also during the standoff, SWAT members reported seeing smoke and flames inside the apartment, and they discovered that Jones was posting live video of himself in the apartment during the standoff. At one point, Jones recorded a fire inside a bathroom shower, and said “no evidence on me buddy,” the affidavit stated. Also during the video, Jones referred to himself as “El Chapo Jr.” and more than once showed large bundles of cash.

A search of Jones’ apartment turned up a minimum of three kilos of suspected cocaine (each kilo is worth about $34,000); two handguns — one revolver was hidden in the plastic pot of an indoor plant and the second was under a TV stand; two bullet-proof vests; ammunition; and $101,627 in cash in several places in the apartment. An additional $3,050 was found in Jones’ possession when he was arrested, according to the affidavit.

Jones remains held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail on a possible parole violation and for drug and weapons charges out of Vinton County, online jail and court records show.

EARLIER REPORT (April 1)

A 28-year-old Dayton man whose arrest ended an hourslong SWAT standoff at a Harrison Twp. apartment complex remains in custody.

Daniel E. Jones remains in the Montgomery County Jail on Friday night, pending the filing of formal charges stemming from the standoff at the Meadows of Catalpa apartment complex on Indian Runn Drive.

He’s being detained on a probation violation and a detainer out of Vinton County in southeast Ohio.

He was arrested about 1:30 a.m. after fire crews had to use water canon when flames were seen in the apartment where Jones had holed up. Law enforcement officers also fired tear gas into the apartment.

The standoff developed after a “signal 99” — officer needs assistance — was dispatched just before 9 p.m. by a report of shots fired in the area of the complex.

Officers from several jurisdictions, including the Dayton and the Montgomery County, surrounded the complex and blocked streets in the area. A medic unit also was placed in the area, on standby.

Officials with the sheriff’s office have not said what led them to the complex, only that police and deputies have been looking for Jones for several months. They also have not said why two other people were taken into custody from the apartment Jones was in.

Sheriff’s officials have not made clear whether those two other people have been arrested.

According to the Vinton County Common Pleas Court, Jones was charged in September 2014 with felony drug trafficking, weapon possession as a felon, misdemeanor marijuana possession, OVI and driving under suspension.

He was arrested and pleaded guilty — all in May 2015 — and posted $500 (10 percent of a $5,000 bond) to secure his release. A drug fine of $1,312 was levied later. He didn’t pay it.

A Vinton County arrest warrant was issued in December 2015. Jones was arrested in Butler County on Dec. 18, 2015, on charges accusing him of rear-ending a Middletown EMS unit on its way to Atrium Medical Center as he was trying to elude Ohio Highway Patrol troopers.

Vinton County issued another arrest warrant on March 7.

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