Release Date/Time: 9/15/2016 11:41 PM
Incident: 5150 Standoff
Report #: 16 09 0887
Date: Thursday, 9/15/2016
Time: 11:26 PM
Location: Steinbeck Library
Officers responded to a report of a man with a gun in his waistband at the Steinbeck Library. When officers arrived they were told there was a suspicious person in the bathroom who said he had been chased by a man with a gun. The officers determined the men were one in the same and tried to contact the man in the bathroom who was later identified as a 32-year-old male with possible mental health issues. The man would not come out of the bathroom and claimed to have a gun pointed at the door. He refused to come out because he did not believe the officers were police. Officers began talking to the man and tried multiple ways to convince him they were a police officers. Employees and patrons of the library were evacuated.
The Negotiation Team and representatives of Monterey County Behavioral Health responded. After approximately four and a half hours, the man surrendered, came out of the bathroom, and was peacefully taken into custody.
He did not have a weapon. While alone in the bathroom he damaged a fan, lights, and had burned toilet paper in and attempt to set off the sprinklers. He was taken to a local hospital and admitted on a psychological hold.
Officers from CDCR and Monterey County Parole assisted with perimeter security.
Release Authorized by: Cmdr. John C. Murray
Telephone: (831) 758-7250