Driver called police after seeing that delivery order to motel room included zip ties, hatchet, bleach and trash bags

A driver for an delivery service recently helped police in west-central Texas foil a hostage situation after reporting that he had delivered zip ties, a hatchet and other suspicious items to a motel room as part of an order, according to authorities and media accounts.

When officers approached the room to which those items had been delivered, 42-year-old Neil Cooper of Snyder, Texas, said he was armed and would not come out, police said. Officers were also told that there was “a possible hostage … inside the room”.

The hostage managed to get out the room while police established contact with Cooper, police said. Cooper eventually surrendered to police after speaking with a crisis negotiator from Texas’s public safety department, according to investigators.