A hostage was released nearly eight hours into a standoff with an armed suspect barricaded inside a pickup truck in Beverly Hills on Sunday. The standoff began after a police chase ended with a crash around 3 p.m. in the 8800 block of Burton Way. The suspect, wanted for the attempted murder of a peace officer, refused to surrender or free the hostage for hours. AIR7 video captured the moment the female hostage exited the vehicle shortly before 11 p.m., but the suspect remained inside. The standoff continued as of the latest reports.
The incident started around 3 a.m. when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies attempted a traffic stop, but the suspect fled, striking a deputy with his pickup truck. The deputy suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized. A warrant for the suspect's arrest was issued for attempted murder of a peace officer. Hours later, around 1:30 p.m., a license plate reader in Beverly Hills identified the suspect's vehicle, leading to a short pursuit. The chase ended when the suspect crashed into another vehicle on Burton Way, triggering the standoff.
Beverly Hills police and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies surrounded the pickup truck, which had its windshield blocked by a sunshade. An L.A. County SWAT team was deployed to the scene, and negotiations were ongoing as of Sunday evening. Traffic was snarled at Robertson Boulevard and Burton Way, which borders Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Beverly Grove. The suspect's motives and the hostage's condition remain unclear.