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Tupper Lake man pleads guilty after six-hour standoff

David A. Payrot surrenders to police after a standoff in January 2023. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

TUPPER LAKE — A Tupper Lake man involved in a tense six hour standoff with law enforcement at the Tupper Lake Stewart’s Shops in January 2023 pleaded guilty on Friday to a felony charge stemming from the standoff.

David Payrot, 45, pleaded guilty to making a terroristic threat, a felony, before Franklin County Judge Craig Carriero. His sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 2.

During a snowstorm on Jan. 25, 2023, Payrot walked into the convenience store and told employees he had a bomb and asked everyone to get out of the building.

This led to a lockdown of the town’s main district long into the night as numerous law enforcement agencies assembled outside. New York State Police negotiators eventually got in contact with Payrot on a cell phone while he was still in the store and worked to end the situation peacefully.

Payrot had claimed he had a high-yield bomb in his backpack with a remote “deadman” detonator switch, but after he surrendered, the State Police Bomb Disposal Unit determined it was not actually an explosive.

Initially, Payrot had also been charged with second-degree placing a false bomb or hazardous substance, a felony.

Franklin County District Attorney Elizabeth Crawford said the agreement she reached with Payrot was for him to plead guilty to the making a terroristic threat charge, a violent felony, and not pursue the other non-violent felonies.

“That’s taking into consideration the mental health issues he was having at the time of the event,” she said.

Crawford said Payrot will likely be sentenced to a set number of years in prison with post-release supervision. She added that she can share more details of the case after the sentencing.

More details of the standoff can be found at tinyurl.com/4bmwz5ky.

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