A former Coconino County Sheriff's Office deputy pleaded innocent on Monday to 12 criminal charges stemming from a weekend long pursuit and standoff in February that left law enforcement racing to protect the man's ex-wife and her former boyfriend -- a current deputy.

The charges against Mark Anton, 38, of Timberline, include two counts of possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia, eight counts of aggravated harassment for domestic violence and two counts of making threats. Police claim Anton sent a string of increasingly threatening text messages to his ex-wife over the course of several weeks leading up to the incident.

Eventually, officers were dispatched to her house for protection. Police received a report that Anton said he was going to kill someone and then commit "suicide by cop."

Police reports said that a search of Anton’s house after the 18-hour standoff turned up 20 guns, meth paraphernalia and a bullet with the ex-wife’s boyfriend’s name on it.

For more on the story, see tomorrow's Arizona Daily Sun.

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