Police took a male burglary suspect into custody Friday afternoon in a Santa Maria neighborhood after a nearly three-and-a-half-hour-long standoff.
Just before 12:45 p.m., police say officers responded to a report of a suspicious person roaming the area around Silverado Avenue. Once on scene, they saw someone matching the suspect’s description enter a home on Muirfield Court.
“At that point, we were able to set up containment around that residence. We were able to get the occupants out and make sure there wasn’t anybody in danger inside the home,” explained Lt. Nate Totorica, Santa Maria Police Department. “Then, we made several calls into the residence trying to get him to come out and comply with us. Unfortunately, those efforts didn’t work. We eventually needed to deploy into the residence to get him. We utilized several de-escalation techniques. We used our dog, our K9. We used our drone inside the residence. We eventually made contact with him. He was hiding inside the residence and we were able to take him into custody without incident.”
According to Lt. Totorica, the suspect went into at least two homes in the area and faces potential charges of burglary, theft and trespassing.
