Updated 8 a.m. April 8, 2015
A 26-year-old man who allegedly attempted to break into several Chula Vista apartments and pulled a knife on one of the residents was in custody Tuesday night following a more than five-hour standoff with police at a nearby hotel.
Residents in the apartments on G Street near Third Avenue called police around 5 p.m. Tuesday after a burglar later identified by police as Garry Romero tried to get into numerous apartments, according to a Chula Vista police statement. He allegedly pulled a knife on one resident during a scuffle and may have attempted to steal a wallet.
The suspect then ran into the El Primero Boutique Bed and Breakfast at 416 Third Avenue. The hotel was emptied of guests and staff as the knife- wielding man holed up inside, police said.
A police SWAT team and crisis negotiators made several unsuccessful attempts to persuade the suspect to give up before he dove out a glass window around 10:25 p.m. and tried to escape through the hotel’s courtyard, the police statement said.
The suspect shook off bean bag rounds fired at him and a Taser and ran through a glass and rod iron gate into the street, where he was subdued by a police dog and placed under arrest, the statement said.
Romero was hospitalized in unknown condition with numerous injuries sustained during the incident, the statement said. No other injuries were reported.
Police said Romero would face numerous felony charges after he is cleared for incarceration. Reports from the scene quoted Chula Vista police Capt. Lon Turner as saying Romero suffered from mental health issues.
— City News Service