6-Hour Standoff Ends in Man’s Arrest
A Lakewood man was arrested Monday after he allegedly barricaded himself inside a seaside motel in Santa Monica for nearly six hours while holding a woman captive.
A sheriff’s special weapons team surrounded the Auto Motel, in the 100 block of Ocean Avenue, about 12:30 a.m. Monday after someone reported an assault.
Santa Monica police officers tried to enter the room in which Jason Gutman, 33, of Lakewood, was staying with a female companion, Santa Monica Police Sgt. Tim Bauer said.
Gutman would not allow the officers to enter the room and allegedly kept the woman captive at gunpoint, Bauer said.
“An officer heard the slide mechanism on an automatic weapon, and called for backup from the sheriff’s special weapons team,” Bauer said.
A sheriff’s crisis negotiator persuaded Gutman to surrender about six hours later, Santa Monica Police Sgt. Bill Brucker said.
Gutman was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment charges. He was being held on $5,000 bail at the Santa Monica Jail.
A semiautomatic handgun was found in the room. No shots were fired and no injuries were reported during the standoff.
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