Son charged in mom's captivity

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The man police say held his mom captive for more than a week, prompting a standoff on the Grand Rapids northeast side, has a history of attacking his parents.

Grand Rapids police told 24 Hour News 8 they obtained arrest warrants against Joshua Hoffman Wednesday afternoon on charges of domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment. He was arraigned Thursday and held on a $100,000 bond.

Hoffman has been in jail since he surrendered after a several-hour standoff that kept residents from their homes at Stonebrook Apartments Tuesday evening.

Police say Hoffman had been keeping his mother locked in a room in their apartment for most of 10 days, during which he assaulted her several times.

Court records show Hoffman has attacked his parents before and spent time in a psychiatric hospital.

His mother petitioned to have him committed in 2002, saying her son had severe mood swings that he took out on his family; destroying things, beating his parents and banging his own head against a table.

Hoffman was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder with psychosis.

Network180 -- the agency that runs Kent County's mental health system -- told 24 Hour News 8 it cannot talk about specific cases, but did want to stress that mentally ill people are no more prone to violence than anyone else and are actually more often the victims.

Network180 also said the system cannot necessarily force hospitalization based solely on prior threats, or even assaults.