Sunday, 16 September 2007

• Barricaded teen surrenders in Tustin

  TUSTIN - A 16-year-old carjacking suspect surrendered to police Friday night after spending several hours barricaded inside a Myford Road apartment, giving up after members of the SWAT team surrounded his building.

  The short standoff began just after 5:30 p.m. when Tustin police went to the apartment complex near Myford and Irvine Boulevard to track down the stolen car – and hopefully the carjacking suspect, said Tustin police Lt. John Strain.

  An informant had tipped off the police that the teenager believed to have carjacked a man Wednesday night at the Tustin Marketplace lived at the complex and the stolen tan 1996 Toyota Camry was parked at the complex, Strain said. The owner of the Camry said the teenager had a gun in his pocket when he stole the car.

  Officers found the stolen car and called the apartment where the boy was supposed to be, asking everyone inside to come out, Strain said. Three teenagers walked out of the apartment, but they told police a fourth teenager – the one suspected in the carjacking – was still inside, Strain said.

  Two dozen SWAT team members from Tustin and Irvine were called in to surround the apartment. Hostage negotiators called the apartment again just after 9 p.m., and quickly persuaded the boy to give up, Strain said.

  The teenager, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, is expected to be booked at Orange County Juvenile Hall in Orange.

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