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Koreatown Man Called Police to Commit 'Suicide by Cop'

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Tom Andrews/LAist

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Cops are apparently getting a bad reputation around here -- one Koreatown man thought that by dialing up 9-1-1 he had a good chance of getting killed. City News Service reports that the 58-year-old man, whose name hasn't been released, called the cops at about 6:00 p.m. last night after barricading himself at the top of an apartment building. He said he wanted to commit "suicide by cop." When officials arrived, he was still atop the building.

The man didn't come down until about 10:00 p.m., and which point he was hit with a taser and taken into custody. According to a representative form the LAPD, this was not the first time the man had called law enforcement.

"From my understanding he has had prior contact with the Los Angeles Police Department,'' Lt. Jonathan Tom of the Los Angeles Police Department's Olympic Station told the news service.

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