Body found inside Hermosa Beach home after hours-long standoff with armed suspect
A homicide investigation is underway in Hermosa Beach after a man's body was found inside a beachfront home and a suspect was arrested following a seven-hour standoff late Saturday.
Authorities were called to the home, in the 500 block of The Strand, at around 12:30 p.m. when the victim's realtor contacted police for a welfare check after not hearing from them in about a week, Hermosa Beach police told CBS LA.
When officers checked the home, they encountered the suspect, who was not a tenant. They also "observed evidence suggesting a possible deceased person was inside the residence," a news release from Hermosa Beach PD said.
"With the assistance of the landlord or the realtor, they granted us access to go inside and they located somebody that was inside that did not match the description of the resident," said Officer Keaton Dadigan. "That person made some type of statement that she was armed and barricaded herself inside of the residence."
The standoff ended at around 7:45 p.m., and CBS LA was on the scene when the suspect, dressed in a suit and wearing both sunglasses and a fedora, surrendered to officers with his hands up. He was taken into custody without further incident.
On Sunday, authorities identified the suspect as 39-year-old Robert Simmons. He was booked for murder and investigators are prepared to present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the 92-year-old man who was found dead as Demetrius Doukoullos.
Neighbors said that they had started seeing the suspect several days before Saturday's investigation.
"They started seeing this weird guy coming in, the guy in the fedora; they said he was always wearing the fedora and dressed up," said Cameron Holbert. "Another thing that was strange is the blinds were closed and he never closes the blinds."
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau detectives were asked to assist with the homicide investigation. Video from outside the home as the standoff ensued showed the presence of several law enforcement agencies, including the Manhattan Beach, El Segundo and Hawthorne police departments, and a SWAT team.
Several homes in the surrounding area were evacuated as the situation developed on Sunday afternoon. They have all since been allowed to return home.
The victim still has not been publicly identified and the circumstances surrounding their death remain unclear.
