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In a situation that lasted throughout the night, a suspected drunk driver who pulled a gun California Highway Patrol officers and then barricaded himself at a construction site southeast of downtown has been arrested.
The incident began around 11 p.m. on Sunday, when CHP officers spotted a green GMC pickup truck driving erratically and swerving in and out of traffic on the 5 freeway in south Orange County. The officers attempted to pull the driver over on suspicion of driving under the influence, but the suspect didn't cooperate and instead led the CHP on a chase up the 5 freeway to Commerce, according to City News Service. The suspect pulled off the freeway in an industrial section of Commerce a little after midnight. Both the north and southbound lanes of the freeway in the surrounding neighborhood were briefly closed just before 1 a.m.
After veering off the freeway near Bandini Boulevard in Commerce, the suspect exited the car, shirtless and waving a gun. He ran into a local business and pointed a handgun at several employees, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. ABC 7 reports that the area was full of workers at the time, all of whom were successfully evacuated.
Armed suspect waving gun barricaded inside construction site off 5 fwy in Commerce. @SEBLASD on scene pic.twitter.com/F30nwaR9ES
— Julie Sone (@ABC7JulieSone) September 5, 2016
"He went into one of the local businesses and started harassing and assaulting the employees at that business by pointing his handgun at them," Sgt. Bob Boese of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department told ABC 7.
Deputies from the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station were called to the scene just after midnight, and members of the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau (the LASD's equivalent of SWAT) arrived around 3 a.m. according to City News Service. A SWAT team and crisis negotiators were also dispatched.
The standoff lasted for about eight hours before the suspect eventually surrendered and was taken into custody, according to the Sheriff's Department. His identity has not been released.
(Courtesy of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)
In a situation that lasted throughout the night, a suspected drunk driver who pulled a gun California Highway Patrol officers and then barricaded himself at a construction site southeast of downtown has been arrested.
