Armed Santa Ana Woman Arrested in Sharon Gless House : Fan: Police who negotiated with the woman for seven hours said she threatened to kill herself before finally surrendering.

A Santa Ana woman described by police as an obsessed fan armed herself with a rifle and broke into an unoccupied Studio City house owned by actress Sharon Gless early Friday, barricading herself in a bathroom and threatening to kill herself for nearly seven hours before surrendering.

Joni Leigh Penn, 30, who had been under a court order to stop harassing the former star of the “Cagney & Lacey” television program, talked for hours with police negotiators about Gless and suicide before finally surrendering at 10 a.m.

She suffered a cut hand while breaking into the house but there were no other injuries.

Police took a loaded semiautomatic rifle away from Penn and arrested her on suspicion of two counts of burglary, including an attempted break-in at the house three days earlier.

Penn, who lived in the 1000 block of West Santa Ana Boulevard, was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Sybil Brand Institute, where she will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, police said.

Penn, according to investigators, had sent more than 100 letters to Gless during the last four years.

The letters were “obsessive,” Los Angeles Police Lt. Ron LaRue said. “She wanted to be near her.”

The letters and an earlier visit by Penn to the house caused Gless to seek a court order in 1988 to keep Penn away from her. Court records on the action include a letter from Penn’s psychiatrist in which he reported that Penn had said she wanted to commit suicide in front of Gless.

Gless was not in the house Friday morning because she lives elsewhere in Los Angeles, police said. Her press agent, Heidi Schaeffer, said the Studio City house had only been used recently as an office by the actress.

Gless is the latest in a long line of entertainers to be plagued by obsessive fans in recent years. In a statement released Friday, the actress said: “These are horrendous times that we live in, especially when disturbed people have such easy access to weapons that can be used indiscriminately. This has been going on for several years now, and I think she has to be dealt with by the authorities.”

Gless appealed to a state Senate subcommittee last year to approve a bill restricting the release of home addresses by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The legislation was prompted by the death of actress Rebecca Schaffer, killed by a fan who had tracked her down at her West Hollywood apartment through DMV records.

Saying that she had been harassed, Gless testified: “I would just like to go home and not be afraid. I would like to open my door and not be afraid.”

Penn broke into the house through a window about 3:15 a.m., triggering a silent burglar alarm that brought two LAPD patrol officers, police said.

“They went into the home and they were confronted by the woman,” Sgt. Richard Thomas said. “She pointed the gun at herself and threatened to kill herself. She then moved back into the bathroom and locked the door.”

Capt. Dan Watson said a Special Weapons and Tactics team was called to the scene and evacuated homes surrounding the secluded house at the end of a short cul-de-sac backing the Ventura Freeway.

“We just heard this pounding on the door in the middle of the night and were told there was a crazy lady with a gun,” neighbor Susan Cascio said. “It was scary.”

A specially trained police negotiator was brought in to talk to Penn. According to Watson, Penn objected that the negotiator was a man, and a woman negotiator, Officer Patricia Stark, was then brought to the house.

“Throughout the night and the morning, she was talking about suicide,” Watson said of Penn. “She discussed Sharon Gless and suicide.”

Police said Penn never threatened Gless while talking with the negotiator but declined to elaborate on what was said.

While the standoff continued, scores of reporters and camera crews descended on the quiet, middle-class neighborhood. Vans and cars belonging to the media lined both sides of nearby Kling Street. Television transmitters were cranked into the sky so live reports could be sent to local stations.

Members of the media stood along the street and set up camera tripods across a lawn near the house where Penn was barricaded. Television programs such as “Entertainment Tonight” and tabloid newspapers from as far as London dispatched camera crews to the scene.

The police and media vigil ended at 10 a.m. with Penn’s surrender to SWAT officers. The rifle, a .22-caliber AT-22, was confiscated as evidence. Police said it was loaded with a clip containing 13 bullets. The weapon had been purchased at a store by Penn a year ago, police said.

The restraining order issued Nov. 16, 1988, against Penn was based on grounds that she had harassed and threatened Gless and her family.

Three weeks before Gless sought the order, Penn allegedly visited the Studio City home and told a secretary she had a gun. According to Gless’ petition for the restraining order, police were called but Penn “evaded arrest.” The woman was later arrested at her parents’ home in Santa Ana and placed under 72-hour psychiatric detention.

In late 1988, Gless also received a letter from Dr. Hubert Nestor, Penn’s Santa Ana psychiatrist, that said, “Although this patient has no destructive intent toward you, she did plan to shoot herself in front of you.”

Court records also say Nestor indicated that Penn intended to “stake out” the homes of members of Gless’ family.

During a court hearing on the restraining order, the actress’s attorney and brother, Michael Gless, said Penn was a frequent fixture near the “Cagney & Lacey” set, hovering outside studio doors at dawn to await the actress’s arrival.

Gless “has serious concerns regarding her safety and has suffered emotional distress as a direct result of this threat,” the petition states.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kurt J. Lewin ordered Penn not to harass or annoy Gless and to stay at least 1,000 yards from Gless’ residences. She was also ordered to stay away from members of the actress’s family.

Police said Penn apparently continued to send letters to Gless but adhered to the order to stay away from her until this week. Detectives said Penn unsuccessfully attempted to break into the Studio City house early Tuesday morning but declined to say what evidence links her to the crime.

Neighbors said that in years past, Gless made no secret of her residence, even posting an old street sign by the driveway that proclaimed it “Gless Street.” In recent years, they said, the sign was taken down and moved back behind a wooden gate on the property.