Kidnap charge for man holed up at U of M hotel

A Woodbury man who held off police for more than 36 hours at a hotel on the University of Minnesota campus was charged with kidnapping, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday.

Lincoln Bowman, 46, also was charged with false imprisonment in the incident that began about 11:30 p.m. Sunday and lasted until Tuesday afternoon. He is expected to make his first court appearance Friday.

According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis police received a call from another police department saying that Bowman was suicidal, threatening to harm family members and had an out-of-state warrant. They indicated they thought he was at 615 Washington Ave. N.

Police went to the address, found it was the Graduate Hotel, and learned he was in room 614 with a woman. Officers knocked on the door, but he refused to open it. Instead, he indicated to officers he was armed, would hurt any officer who came through the door and that he would set the hotel on fire, the complaint states. They could also hear the voice of a woman inside.

The Special Weapons and Tactics team was brought in and began negotiating with Bowman. Finally, at about 8:20 p.m. Monday, the woman was able to leave the room. She told police that she has dated Bowman for several months and Sunday night they decided to get a room at the hotel but he began acting strangely, according to the complaint.

He took her cell phone and would not let her leave the room or even go to the bathroom without him watching.

With Bowman alone, police ultimately decided to fire tear gas into the room, break down the door and arrest him, the complaint states.

Bowman Criminal Complaint (PDF)