WICHITA COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — A former Wichita Falls police officer is jailed on a $3 million bond after police and deputies said he violated a protective order and tied up law agency resources for hours in two standoff incidents.

Benjamin Bates was involved in one standoff in Iowa Park on April 30 which Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said was the longest he has been involved in.

Dozens of officers from several agencies were involved and several streets were blocked until Bates, who officers said was holding a firearm, was taken in custody at his property on Texowa Street after almost 24 hours.

Then on May 18, Wichita Falls police were involved in a shorter standoff at a home on Sawmill Lane near Southwest Parkway and Bridge Creek. That one ended just as the SWAT team arrived.

In both cases, officers said the individual was threatening suicide.

Bates was charged with violation of a protective order after the Iowa Park standoff when authorities said he sent 18 messages and made three calls to the woman he was prohibited from contacting.

Officers said he threatened to commit suicide multiple times, saying in one message he was going to cut his “brachial artery” and bleed out.

A second violation was filed May 18, the day of the standoff with police on Sawmill. Police said he sent numerous messages to the woman and the two girls that he loved them, and would be “watching from up above.”

Bates was taken into custody at the house and apparently taken to a medical facility before being booked in jail Sunday on $3 million and $20,000 bonds.