Man Holds Ex-Wife, Son Hostage in Apartment

A man armed with a gun and a can of gasoline held his ex-wife wife and their 8-year-old son hostage in her apartment all afternoon and into the night Wednesday, police said.

Firefighters and a police Special Weapons and Tactics team were at the scene where Ernest Boykins, 35, was holding his ex-wife, Anne Hinton, 30, and their 8-year-old son inside the apartment at 2900 W. Lincoln Ave. Several hundred onlookers lined both sides of Lincoln as the siege dragged on into the night.

Police evacuated about 40 residents from 225 units in the complex when the incident began at about 1 p.m. By evening, the American Red Cross had set up a shelter at Savannah High School with refreshments and a rest area for tenants of the complex.

After a five-hour standoff and a telephone call during which Boykins hung up on police, negotiators made a second call which lasted nearly an hour and began a series of talks with the man. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Long phone conversations continued into the evening. By 9 p.m., negotiators had made little progress in persuading Boykins to release his hostages, but Boykins was allowing Hinton to speak with police by telephone. She was reported to be “holding up rather well,” said John Nicoletti, a city spokesman.

“They’ve asked him again if they would release the woman and the child; he still refused to do that,” Nicoletti said. “They’re just trying to keep him talkative. As long as he’s talking, that’s a positive sign.”

Police said Boykins did not immediately make any demands and did not offer any reason for keeping his family captive. Boykin, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds, was visiting Hinton’s apartment when she called a friend, who in turn called police.

Friends and neighbors speculated that Boykin, also known as “Big Man” around the complex, may have been jealous of Hinton’s plans to move to Santa Barbara with a new boyfriend.

Neighbors said Boykin works as a mechanic and lives in a motel near the apartment complex. He and Hinton also have two teen-age children who no longer live with them, neighbors said.

“He’s really good with the kids,” said Lee Simmons, a neighbor. “He’s always doing things with them, giving them videos. He seems like a real family man.”

But Calvin Gibson, 21, who identified himself as the boyfriend of the divorced couple’s 16-year-old daughter, said Boykins’ act didn’t surprise him. “He’d never gone this far before, but he had said he’d kill her when I was around--he said he’d kill me,” Gibson said.

Friends said Hinton is attending a technical school and planned to graduate later this year.

Times staff writer Lily Dizon contributed to this report.