Kidnapping suspect captured after passing SWAT perimeter, running through LA homes
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department assisted the U.S. Marshals Service after a kidnapping suspect barricaded in the San Gabriel Valley Wednesday.
LASD Special Enforcement Bureau personnel were called to assist around 2:20 p.m. in the 800 block of Muscatel Avenue in South San Gabriel. Authorities first responded to the area when a neighbor called deputies to report that the suspect stole something from them.
"I felt threatened when he said he was going to shoot me if I didn't get out of his property, " the neighbor said. "That's when I called the cop again and said 'Hey, I need you now.'"
Deputies discovered the suspect had several warrants for his arrest, including kidnapping, after arriving in the area.
LASD assumed tactical command and a crisis negotiation team was called in to contact the suspect, the department said.
The standoff continued well into the night until the suspect somehow got past the perimeter set up by authorities and crossed into another neighborhood.
"I was inside the house and the cops just over around my house said stay inside the house," neighbor Hang Nguyen said.
Deputies chased him through the neighborhood as he broke into several properties.
"He entered from our neighbor's fence," witness Jeff Nelson said. "He hopped over the fence and then came through the side and knocked on our door, at which point he got into the garage. "I notified SWAT. They came through our garage, fired a flash bang and chased him out essentially."
After throwing at least two flash bangs at his feet, they eventually caught up to the suspect and arrested him.
A flash-bang is a less-lethal grenade that produces a flash of blinding light and deafening sound when deployed.
