Santa Maria suspect arrested in L.A. after chase, standoff

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Santa Maria police have provided new details on the arrest of a man who they say shot at an officer Saturday.

That incident happened on the 200 block of East Grant Street, and after a wild chain of events the man was finally arrested in a Sherman Oaks home he broke into Monday afternoon.

According to Santa Maria Police Lieutenant Jesse Silva, California Highway Patrol tried to pull over a black sedan for speeding on Highway 101 near Los Angeles Monday. It turns out the man behind the wheel was the suspect out of Santa Maria.

"From what I'm being told is that he actually shot at the Highway Patrol officers a couple times," Silva said. "He ended up leaving the freeway and was involved in some type of traffic accident, and then ran into a couple of nearby houses, one house and then jumped a fence into another house where he barricaded himself."

The Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team got involved. Video from CBS Los Angeles shows a robot delivering cigarettes and a phone to the man through a broken window. He eventually surrendered peacefully. CBS Los Angeles also reports the man has COVID-19.

Santa Maria police say they will be recommending attempted homicide and carjacking charges. They say after he fired at an officer in an apartment complex, the man took off and stole a car at gunpoint from a convenience store parking lot. The car was found nearby a few hours later.

"The level of danger was great not only for our officer but the civilian who ended up having his car taken at gun point," Silva said. "Whenever someone doesn't comply with a police officer, it really doesn't get any worse than that."

The officer and the person whose car was stolen were not physically hurt.