The Wilmington police officer involved in a 10-hour standoff near Newport earlier this month was charged Tuesday with stealing more than $20,000 from the Wilmington Police Department.

Master Cpl. Michael Ballard, the 14-year department veteran who was holed up in his home near Newport while police locked down his neighborhood, is accused of stealing from a Police Department account for money raised from recycled firing range shell casings.

Ballard, the head range instructor for the Wilmington Police Department's Firearms Range, has been charged with embezzling $21,994.90 from October 2015 to June 2018.

The department started investigating Ballard in September when officers reported his possible misconduct, police said. An internal investigation found that Ballard stole from the Police Department account.

He was charged with three felony counts of theft greater than $1,500 and 14 counts of misdemeanor theft under $1,500.

“It is with great sadness and disappointment that we announce the arrest of M/Cpl. Michael Ballard,” Wilmington police Chief Robert Tracy said in a news release.

Police surrounded his home Nov. 16 as he holed up in a house with firearms inside. The neighborhood and Conrad Schools of Science were on lockdown as officers circled the house.

PREVIOUSLY:Police officer arrested after all-night standoff near Newport caused 'shelter in place' order

Ballard was taken into custody and charged with six felonies including reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited.

He was arraigned Tuesday on both sets of charges, and his bail was set at $51,250.

Police found evidence that a gun had been fired while Ballard was barricaded in the home.

A month before the standoff, Ballard's wife filed a protection from abuse order that ordered Ballard to relinquish all firearms. The documents said Ballard had "multiple personal handguns and police-issued firearms."

The court documents state Ballard's firearms were also seized three months before the standoff.

"These were taken by police when he was hospitalized in August," the document states.

A nearly identical situation happened at the same house in August, but police have not confirmed if Ballard was the subject inside. Police told The News Journal that the multi-agency response in August was a welfare check.

Following Ballard's arrest a week and a half ago, Wilmington police placed him on suspended without pay from his administrative leave.

Contact Josephine Peterson at (302) 324-2856 or jhpeterson@delawareonline.com. Follow her @jopeterson93.

DELAWARE NEWS:

Owner of DiMeo's Pizza in Wilmington gets prison for tax evasion

Discarded cigarette butts, roaches, dead mouse close Newark deli



