Before he was taken into custody, crisis negotiators had been called out by local sheriff’s deputies to talk a barricaded man down from a Newhall rooftop.
Shortly after 4:35 p.m. Wednesday, deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to reports of a shirtless man suspected in a burglary.
After more than 45 minutes of eluding deputies, the suspect seen armed with a knife was spotted on the rooftop of a home on 11th Street near Chestnut Street.
“We’ve been trying to get him to come down,” Lt. Chuck Becerra told The Signal shortly after 6:30 p.m.
“He tossed a weapon aside,” he said, confirming the weapon was a knife.
“And, we’ve called in out crisis negotiating team,” Becerra said.
At one point in the standoff, the suspect pushed a ladder placed against the rooftop by Los Angeles County firefighters which fell against nearby utility wires.
About 6:45 p.m., the suspect was seen jumping onto the roof of a nearby home.
By 7 p.m., the man was on the ground where he was detained by deputies.
Although deputies evacuated no homes in the area of the incident, they set up a containment area around the 11th Street location, stopping traffic at intersections near the location.
No one was reported hurt in the incident, Becerra said.
When asked if the suspect was the same man pursued along the rooftops of Newhall homes Thursday, Becerra said he was unable to confirm that information.
At least two deputies at the scene of the containment, however, told The Signal it was the same man.
In last week’s incident, the pursued man was also reported to be shirtless.
In that incident, deputies chased a suspected bicycle thief through Newhall and onto rooftops.
Thursday afternoon suddenly found themselves following the suspect as he ran along roof tops.
Last week’s search focused on the area of 14th Street near Walnut Street, where the suspected bicycle thief bolted from deputies.
Deputies began to pursue the suspect but then noticed he was on running from them on rooftops.
“They are following a suspect who ran from deputies. And we learned that he may have escaped by running on rooftops in the area, ” Lt. Doug Mohrhoff told The Signal last Thursday.
Rather than run along rooftops after the suspect, deputies set up a containment area bound by Newhall Street, Walnut Street, 15th Street and 13th Street.
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