Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports that a two-hour standoff this afternoon between authorities and an emotionally disturbed man in Putnam Valley ended peacefully.

The incident began to unfold when officials of an insurance company called the Sheriff’s Office today and reported that the man, who lives on Cedar Street in Putnam Valley, had allegedly made threats over the telephone toward employees of that company. When a sheriff’s deputy went to the man’s house to interview him at about 1:00 p.m., the man refused to open his door, began screaming at the deputy from inside and made statements indicative of extreme emotional disturbance.

Additional sheriff’s deputies and members of the Putnam County Emergency Response Team responded to the area outside the house in a precautionary posture while a sheriff’s negotiator engaged the man by telephone. After about two hours, the man was persuaded to come out of the house, whereupon he was taken into custody without further incident. Authorities transported him to the Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel for psychiatric evaluation.