December 3rd, 2022 by WCBC Radio

On 12.02.2022 at approximately 11:30 AM, Deputies of The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office were made aware that a female was allegedly being held against her will in a Frostburg residence.  In coordination and with the assistance of The Frostburg City Police, deputies responded and established a perimeter at the residence in an attempt to determine the validity of the report. The female was able to communicate with family members though the use of an Alexa device, and confirmed that she was being held against her will and that her captor had access to at least one long gun.

At that time The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Response Team (S.O.R.T.) as well as members of the Hostage Negotiations Team were called into service.

Additional information was developed that the male in the residence was wanted on several outstanding warrants and possibly had access to firearms inside of the residence.  Members of the negotiations team were able to successfully call out the female from within the residence and have her transported for an evaluation of injuries that were non-life-threatening stemming from her captivity.

Utilizing an ACSO deployed robot, communications were established with the male in the residence. The male refused to comply with any requests to surrender peacefully and threatened to force the police to end his life. Due to the believed access to high powered firearm(s) and his threatening to cause a potential firefight in the streets of Frostburg the decision was made to contain any further escalation inside of the residence. The members of the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Response Team entered undetected into the residence and were able to isolate the male’s location. Deputies made entry into the room after additional negotiations failed and confronted the male who was armed with a knife and displayed it towards the SORT members in a threatening manner. A TASER was deployed and the male was taken into custody without further incident.   A high powered rifle was also located in the residence.

Arrested was 33 year old Charles Douglas Cobak.    Cobak was arrested on the outstanding warrants and additional charges are pending by the Frostburg City Police and The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office to include:

Assault on Police/Deadly Weapon
Assault Domestic
False Imprisonment
Possession of Weapon by Prohibited Person

The barricade lasted approximately 5 hours and additional assistance was provided by the Frostburg University Police, Allegany County Department of Emergency Services and the Cumberland City Police Department. As a precaution, Mt. Ridge High School was placed on lockdown and the Board of Education Safety Director was briefed on scene.