A man suspected of assault with a deadly weapon during a domestic dispute locked himself inside a Newport Beach apartment Thursday, touching off an hours-long standoff that ended with his arrest that evening. Police say officers took him into custody without incident after negotiating his surrender.
The incident unfolded at an apartment complex on the 1800 block of Westcliff Drive before 4 p.m., according to Newport Beach Police Department spokesperson Heather Rangel, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Rangel told the paper the man locked himself inside a residence, leading to the standoff with officers. Separately, MyNewsLA reported that the dispatch involved a domestic dispute with an assault with a deadly weapon, and that officers were negotiating the suspect's surrender to authorities.
Police vehicles blocked all access into the apartment complex, and several occupants were required to wait in the parking lot while a temporary blockade kept them from their units, per the Los Angeles Times. SWAT team members positioned themselves in front of a lower apartment where residents said the incident occurred, and nearby residents believed a son had assaulted his mother, though that account has not been confirmed by police.
Shelter-in-Place Order Covered Nearby Streets
As the standoff continued, Newport Beach police issued an alert advising people near Westcliff Drive and Bedford Lane, between Buckingham Lane and Rutland Road, to shelter in place around 4 p.m., according to Patch. As of 5:10 p.m., police were still at the scene, and the outlet's report noted that the suspect remained inside the residence as officers worked to safely resolve the situation. Traffic in the surrounding area also appeared to be affected by the police activity, the same account indicates.
By 5 p.m., a large crowd of bystanders had gathered in a shopping center parking lot across the street to watch the standoff play out, the Los Angeles Times reported. Despite the scale of the response, Rangel assured residents that the immediate area had been secured and that there was no known threat to the general public — a point Patch's report echoed as well.
Suspect's Identity Withheld, Injuries Unclear
The standoff ended safely Thursday evening when officers took the man into custody without incident, per Rangel's account to the Los Angeles Times. His identity had not been made available to the public as of the paper's report. It also remains unknown whether a victim inside the residence was injured, according to Rangel.
