IRVINE : Man Arrested After Standoff With Police

A psychologist on probation for instigating a family disturbance last year was arrested Friday after he held police off for more than four hours, threatening to shoot anyone who approached him, police said.

Freddy Easton, 43, was taken into custody without incident about 11:30 a.m. at his home in the 100 block of Columbus, Irvine Police Lt. Vic Thies said.

Two pellet rifles were later found in his gray-and-brown, two-story house.

“He was apparently despondent over a divorce situation,” Thies said.

Easton is being held for a psychiatric examination, and criminal charges are pending, Thies said.

Police were initially called to the scene shortly after 6:30 a.m. to investigate a caller’s complaint that Easton was ranting and shouting profanities in his front yard. The caller also claimed to have heard one or two gunshots.

When officers arrived, Easton had re-entered his home. Police contacted him by phone but were unable to persuade him to give himself up, Thies said, and the department’s SWAT team was called in. Negotiators talked to Easton again about 10:30 a.m., but he swore profusely at them and hung up, Thies said.

The standoff ended peacefully when police entered Easton’s front door, grabbed him and pulled him into a police car that had been parked in his driveway.

Confirming neighbors’ complaints, police said Easton has a history of disturbing the peace.

On Labor Day, 1990, Easton was arrested for brandishing a weapon during a family disturbance and resisting arrest, Thies said.

Easton was put on an unsupervised three-year probation in the wake of that incident, Thies said. He did not have details on the arrest.