Driver barricades himself inside car in East Bay parking lot for hours before finally being taken into custody
DUBLIN — A man who barricaded himself in his vehicle after leading police on a pursuit Saturday was taken into custody after more than two hours of crisis negotiations, police said.
The 37-year-old, whom police did not identify, fled a multi-agency traffic stop by ramming several police cars after a Livermore license plate reader spotted the vehicle, according to a statement from Dublin police Capt. Miguel Campos. He went by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation and treatment after police took him into custody, Campos said.
It all started about 11:05 a.m., when a Livermore license plate reader camera spotted the 2018 Nissan Altima the suspect drove in the area of the San Francisco Premium Outlets, police said. Tracy police had broadcast to other agencies a “Be on the Lookout” for an armed and dangerous domestic violence suspect about 9:45 a.m., who they said was armed with a knife and had rammed police cars to escape them.
Police also said the suspect had threatened “suicide by cop.”
After being alerted to the Nissan, Livermore police followed it to Fallon Road in Dublin. The suspect stopped his vehicle there when police from several agencies tried to stop it, but he rammed at least one car and drove away, police said.
Police continued to follow the Nissan, and the California Highway Patrol eventually put down a spike strip that disabled it. Campos said the suspect stopped the car in a parking lot at 4160 Dublin Boulevard but still didn’t exit it.
Campos said Dublin police and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office used several tactics with no success to bring out the suspect, including the use of crisis negotiators, less lethal tools and chemical agents. The man made several threats to police during the standoff, Campos said, indicating he had many weapons. He then again rammed vehicles in an unsuccessful effort to escape, he said.
The standoff eventually ended when police took the man into custody.
“During the negotiations, our team found an opportunity to go hands on and take him into custody,” Campos said Monday via email.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and Tracy, Pleasanton and Livermore police departments all were involved in the incident, as was the CHP.