Armed Conflict Peacefully Resolved | Man Surrenders to Authorities

South Pasadena Police respond to armed person threatening to take his life last week

Residents in the 300 block of Camino Verde Street in South Pasadena are breathing easier these days now that a man brandishing a gun inside a garage that was threatening to kill himself has been apprehended.

South Pasadena Police Chief Joe Ortiz said the ordeal last week ended in a “peaceful surrender.”

Responding to a welfare check at a residence on the normally quiet roadway near midnight on August 5, officers determined the man was armed before successfully evacuating his girlfriend and 5-year-old son from the home.

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As the man remained in the garage, Ortiz said, “There was evidence he wanted to hurt himself and do some things with the gun he shouldn’t have been doing.” Ortiz said officers had “real time information” showing the man pointing a gun at himself.

With support from members of the South Marino Police, who set up a perimeter, officers contained the area. “We engaged him in dialogue about two or three hours into the situation,” Ortiz explained. “He decided to come out, saw the police, then went back into the house.”

Members of the Sheriff’s Department negotiating team were then called in, and after about three additional hours in the early morning hours on August 6 Ortiz said at about 6:30 a.m. the man gave himself up to authorities. Officers were able to secure the weapon from the subject.

It all started, according to Ortiz, when a family member wanted police to check the welfare of the man at the home after placing a call to the department.

Following the man’s surrender, Ortiz said he was transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he received mental health treatment. Officers later returned to the man’s home where Ortiz said they recovered some firearms.

The police chief praised his officers for showing patience in a situation “that could have really gone bad, really bad,” said Ortiz, noting that it “ended safely.” A sympathetic Ortiz also said he hopes the man gets the help he needs.

 


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