LAGUNA HILLS : Distraught Gunman Holds Out 17 Hours

Apparently distraught over a fight with his girlfriend, a 42-year-old man armed with a handgun kept a sheriff’s SWAT team at bay outside his apartment for 17 hours before surrendering peacefully, authorities said Tuesday.

During the standoff, about a dozen residents were evacuated from neighboring units in the two-story Pinebrook Apartments at the corner of Avenida de la Carlota and Los Alisos Boulevard. The nearby Oakbrook Village shopping center was also closed.

The standoff lasted from 7 p.m. Monday until noon Tuesday.

Robert James Anderson surrendered to deputies from his ground-floor unit when he heard a tape-recorded message from his girlfriend saying that she loved him and wouldn’t leave him, said Sgt. Larry Jones, of the sheriff’s hostage negotiations team.

“He is very much in love with her,” Jones said. “We knew she was the key.”

Before his surrender, Anderson repeatedly asked the deputies to shoot and kill him. He also was extremely intoxicated from alcohol and hadn’t slept for several days, Jones said.

“He kept asking, ‘What do I have to do to get the deputies to shoot me?’ ” said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson, one of about 50 officers at the scene.

Throughout the night, Anderson fired about 15 shots from the patio of his apartment, witnesses said. Olson said Anderson told deputies he had 200 rounds of ammunition.

One of the shots broke a window at the Oakbrook Plaza office building on the 24000 block of Avenida de la Carlota, which was also closed Tuesday morning.

“A few people won’t get their loans approved today,” said Nancy Beetem, an employee of a mortgage banker in the office building and a resident of the Pinebrook Apartments. “What a way to get the day off.”

Olson said that Anderson was taken into custody solely for a psychological screening but added that he could face charges of negligent discharge of a firearm and for property damage to the office building’s window.

Jones said Anderson had been divorced about five years ago and was employed by his brother, a painting contractor.

“The biggest problem was getting him to come out without his gun. He didn’t want to give it up. We told him we wouldn’t let him see his girlfriend until he put it down because we were concerned for her safety, and that worked,” Jones said.

Several residents who were not evacuated were forced to stay home from work because police lines prevented them from reaching their cars.

Luke Teves, who lives above Anderson, said he slept in his car when he returned home to find his doorway blocked.

“But my poor aunt spent the night in the closet,” Teves said. “They couldn’t get her out because she would have to pass right by his (Anderson’s) door, and it might have set him off. She didn’t sleep at all.”

By 1 p.m. Tuesday, the shopping center had reopened and patrons were lining up outside a restaurant preparing to serve a late lunch. Other restaurants delayed their reopenings until the dinner hour.

As the morning wore on, several dozen shopping center employees waited in a nearby parking lot at Laguna Hills Mall for further notice on their work shifts.

“Look how much chaos he (Anderson) has caused,” said Ronald Hicks, district manager for the Monterey Bay Canners restaurant chain. “We lost a lunch shift today and part of last night’s dinner shift, and I have to pay salaries of people who aren’t here. I’ve probably lost $5,000.”