Suspect taken into custody after 4-hour standoff inside police vehicle

On Sunday at 10:52 a.m., Long Beach police officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of Bellflower Boulevard regarding a petty theft to a business.

When LBPD officers arrived they arrested a 24-year-old male adult for petty theft and placed him in the backseat of a patrol vehicle. After officers placed the suspect in the backseat of the patrol vehicle, they saw an unknown metal object in his hands.

The suspect refused the officers’ commands to surrender the object inside the patrol vehicle. Patrol resources and the Mental Evaluation Team officers were on scene and attempted to communicate with the suspect, in an effort to successfully resolve the situation and gain compliance, but the suspect did not comply.

LBPD SWAT was activated and took the suspect safely into custody.

Officers recovered a metal torch lighter from inside the patrol vehicle. The suspect was transported to a local hospital as a precautionary measure to be cleared for booking.