The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
Alleged Gunman Escapes Arcadia Police Standoff
Arcadia Weekly Jun 26, 2009
by
share with
On the evening of June 21, the Arcadia Police Department responded to an urgent 911 call reporting a gunman in an Arcadia home, only to discover after a seven-hour standoff that the alleged suspect had already vacated the premises.
Around 10:50 p.m. Sunday, police received a call from a resident of the 1700 block of Mayflower Avenue, who reported an armed assailant in his house. The caller, Herb Rodrigues, told police that the gunman was endangering three other residents in the house and threatening to commit suicide.
Rodrigues claimed that the suspect, whose name has not been released, appeared to be under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident. When the man turned hostile and began to threaten the other residents with a handgun, Rodrigues left the premises and telephoned the police.
Upon arriving at the scene, the police set up a containment area around the house and ordered a neighbor to evacuate his home while the standoff was in progress. The SWAT team and a hostage negotiator attempted to make contact with the gunman, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Officers then sent in a robot equipped with a camera, but were similarly unable to detect the suspect.
At 6 a.m., police entered the house to search for the suspect, but discovered only an elderly man, with no trace of the alleged gunman in sight. Officers believe that the man had no involvement in the situation.
The police have so far been unable to locate the gunman or his three victims, and no arrests have been made
