Suspect Apprehended After Hours-Long Standoff in Palisades

Post Exclusive: SWAT Team Interview Reveals New Details

By FRANCES SHARPE | Editor-in-Chief

A man who barricaded himself in a garage on the 400 block of Lombard Ave. in the Via Bluffs neighborhood after allegedly crashing a stolen vehicle and firing several shots from a handgun was taken into custody shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, April 11, according to LAPD Commander Blake Chow.

The ordeal began before 2 a.m. when the man allegedly stole a white Honda SUV in Long Beach then led police on a pursuit through Santa Monica, onto Pacific Coast Highway and up Temescal Canyon Road into the Palisades.

“He was driving like a maniac,” LAPD Lt. Ruben Lopez, the SWAT officer in charge of the operation, told the Palisadian-Post in an exclusive interview later that morning at Café Vida after the suspect had been taken into custody.

The car chase eventually came to a halt when the stolen SUV crashed into a parked car at Lombard Ave. and Earlham St. The suspect then fled on foot.

Police officers in pursuit of the driver heard what sounded like gunshots and a police helicopter saw muzzle flashes from what appeared to be gunshots, according to Chow.

Neighbors heard it too.

Lucia Ludovico and her husband Greg Glenn, who live right behind the home where the incident occurred, saw and heard the entire ordeal unfold throughout the night.

“I heard four shots at about 4 a.m. and called 911,” Ludovico told the Post.

According to Lopez, there were four sets of gunshot volleys, and one round went into the house, “narrowly missing the nursery.”

Lopez said shots were also fired at SWAT and patrol officers as well as at a police helicopter. Officers did not return fire, according to Chow.

Law enforcement responded to the incident with 28 SWAT officers, the bomb squad, K-9 units and patrol officers.

SWAT and LAPD patrol officers rescued the family—a couple, their 2-month-old baby and their nanny—from the home at about 2:45 a.m. The suspect was trying to get into the house, according to Lopez, adding that “the homeowner was awakened by pounding on the door.”

After the family was rescued from the home, SWAT officers began negotiating with the suspect.

“His response was a round through the garage door at our officers,” Lopez said.

When the negotiations failed to secure the suspect’s surrender, SWAT introduced tear gas into the garage.

About an hour after the tear gas was used, SWAT deployed an armored vehicle to ram down the garage door.

Lopez was quick to add that this maneuver is always performed with due care for the homeowner’s property to minimize any damage.

“Once [the suspect] realized that all avenues of escape were sealed off by SWAT, LAPD and K-9 units, he surrendered peacefully,” Lopez said.

The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, had an outstanding warrant from the Bay Area, according to Chow.

Lopez added that the suspect has a “lengthy criminal record.”

LAFD Station 69 was on scene, but firefighters told the Post the suspect did not require medical treatment.

LAPD’s Robbery Homicide division is handling the ongoing investigation.

As the bizarre event came to a close, neighbors expressed gratitude that nobody was injured.

“All the residents here were amazed to see how restrained LAPD officers were and how they treated this perpetrator with such respect,” Ludovico told the Post. “LAPD—they’re just heroes.”

Tom Flattery who has lived at the corner of Via de la Paz and Earlham since 1952 emerged from his home Monday morning to find reporters stationed on his lawn.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Flattery told the Post. “This was enough excitement for the rest of the year.”

Palisadian Twitter Exec Live Tweets Standoff

When Nathan Hubbard, a Via Bluffs resident and Twitter’s Vice President of Commerce, heard gunshots and police activity outside his home in the early morning hours of Monday, April 11, he naturally turned to the social media site to share the experience.

“Twitter is really the best place to see what’s happening in the world right now, in part because it gives everyone a voice,” Hubbard told the Palisadian-Post via Twitter direct message. “So once we felt like the children were safe, I went on Twitter and searched for the word ‘Palisades’ to see if anyone was talking about what was happening. There wasn’t much being said, so with a bird’s-eye view, it felt like my turn to contribute.”

Hubbard live-streamed video of the incident via Periscope and live-tweeted all the action from the hours-long standoff.

“There were definitely moments where we all felt in danger—I mean, there was a lunatic trying to bring down a helicopter with a handgun firing indiscriminately outside my kids’ window. But the LAPD got control of the situation quickly, and from our vantage point it was pretty clear how it was going to end.”

Many of Hubbard’s neighbors, as well as local TV and news reporters, followed along as he gave up-to-the-minute updates.

—ERIKA MARTIN