LOS ANGELES – Police have captured a wanted man who climbed onto rooftops in a Los Angeles neighbourhood while armed with a rifle after a freeway chase Monday, and then barricaded himself in a home for several hours. The incident prompted authorities to shut down nearby freeway on-ramps, lock down schools and evacuate at least one as police waited him out, authorities said.
Five hours after the chase began, Special Weapons and Tactics officers fired a gas into the home, and television reports showed the suspect walking out with his hands up and lying face-down on the grass in the backyard of a home with his hands behind his head and two dogs nearby. Seven SWAT officers converged to take him into custody.
Prosecutors identified the suspect as 41-year-old Nolan Perez. A felony complaint for an arrest warrant says Perez was charged with seven felony counts including stalking and criminal threats against his ex-girlfriend between May 19 and June 6.
Perez has multiple prior convictions including for domestic violence, negligent discharge of a firearm and firearm possession as a felon, prosecutors said.
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The chase began about 10:15 a.m. when police tried to arrest Perez on that warrant. But he drove off in his red Nissan Altima, leading to a 45-minute high-speed chase along several freeways that ended in North Hollywood, police said.
The suspect was dressed in white and carrying what appeared to be an assault-style rifle. He pointed the rifle at his pursuers several times during the chase, but police were investigating whether he fired it, Cmdr. Andy Smith said.
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The man walked through several backyards and at one point climbed onto a roof, jumping from one to another, pacing along the spine and stopping to lean on the rifle multiple times, before climbing down and entering a home, police said. He was believed to be alone inside, Smith said.
Several blocks of the area were sealed off, nearby homes evacuated and a SWAT team called in.
About a half-dozen schools were locked down. Most schools are out of session for summer, but two campuses had a total of about 135 students who would be picked up by their parents, authorities said.
Shortly before 2 p.m., dozens of students from a nearby private school were evacuated to a park to meet their parents, holding hands, lugging backpacks and walking under a freeway overpass. Police guarded them. All lockdowns were lifted about four hours into the standoff, Smith said.
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