BY IAN CROUCH
A man has been taken into custody after an eight hour siege at Bar Beach.
Police say officers went to speak to the man at a Housing Commission unit complex in Light Street at about 6.00pm on Thursday about an alleged break and enter in Hunter Street earlier this year.
However, the 48-year-old man allegedly barricaded himself inside the unit and refused to surrender while make threats to police.
Officers from the Tactical Response Group and specialist negotiators were brought in.
Police say a 55-year-old man who's a friend of the person of interest was also inside the unit. They called on him to leave the premises of his own volition, but he refused
Police forced entry to the unit at about 2 o'clock on Friday morning and arrested the wanted man without incident.
He's been refused bail to face Newcastle Local Court today.
Police say no charges are pending against the 55-year-old man.
Meanwhile, firefighters were called to the same Light Street units just before 4.30am on Friday where a washing machine was on fire in a shared laundry.
Crews quickly extinguished the fire before handing the scene over to police.
They are examining possible links to the earlier incident.
