HUNTINGTON BEACH : Standoff With Man Ends After 7 Hours

A man who barricaded himself inside his townhouse for more than seven hours Friday, forcing police to evacuate surrounding homes and sending parents scurrying after their children in a nearby school, was finally arrested without incident.

The man, 38-year-old Erick A. Taylor, was taken into custody by members of the Huntington Beach Police SWAT team about 6:30 p.m. as he went out his back door to pick up some cigarettes and a bottle of liquor he had requested, police said. Officers said the man was unarmed.

The standoff began about 10 a.m. after Taylor called his psychologist, telling her that he was going to kill himself because he was depressed, Police Lt. Ed McErlain said.

The psychologist telephoned police, who sent SWAT team members to Taylor’s building in the 19000 block of Cambridge Lane near the busy intersection of Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue. They asked neighbors in about 20 nearby homes to leave their residences.

McErlain said police asked Taylor to surrender, but the man replied that he would kill the police too if they attempted to get him out, McErlain said.

Police cut off the gas supply and electrical power to Taylor’s townhouse. During the next several hours, officers telephoned Taylor, a 38-year-old building inspector, pleading with him to end the standoff. But he refused.

Meanwhile, police asked parents to pick up their children from the nearby Isojiro Oka Elementary School and escort them home.

After several hours of waiting, some residents who looked on as SWAT members encircled the townhouse complex pleaded with police to allow them back inside their home.

“Please, when can I go back to my house?” Taylor’s neighbor, Virginia McCarthy, asked officers. “I can’t even get to my car.”

Another neighbor, Margit Giegl, said she had to stand outside the barricaded area for more than seven hours, but she said it was best for the residents.

“I’m concerned but I can understand why they (police) are doing this. . . . It’s better they do it this way,” she said.

Many of the neighbors said they knew little about Taylor.

Said McCarthy: “I have met him before and he seems to mind his own business. He takes good care of the dog.”

At one point, Taylor asked police for a bottle of schnapps and cigarettes. Police said they would comply, but replaced the liquor in the bottle with water.

Around 6:30 p.m., when Taylor stepped out into an alley behind his house to retrieve the items he had requested, several officers stormed the front of the townhouse and tossed a sound grenade inside the home to divert Taylor’s attention.

The grenade makes the sound of an explosion when it goes off but is designed not to cause damage or inflict injuries, officers said.

In the meantime, officers waiting at the back pounced on Taylor, who did not put up a struggle, McErlain said.

Taylor was expected to undergo a medical evaluation at the Huntington Beach City Jail on Friday night.