Chula Vista
A Chula Vista man who pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill himself rather than be arrested on suspicion of using a stolen credit card was taken into custody by Los Angeles police after a five-hour standoff.
Mark Devault, 20, surrendered peacefully about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday in his hotel room on the 14th floor of the Universal Sheraton in North Hollywood after talking with a police crisis negotiation team, said Lt. Pat Conmay.
Police were called by hotel officials who discovered that the credit card Devault used to rent the room had been reported stolen after a burglary in Chula Vista, Conmay said.
When officers arrived to question Devault, they found him in his room holding a .22-caliber handgun to his temple and threatening to kill himself unless police left the room, Conmay said.
In the hotel parking lot, police found a car they said was reported stolen in the same Chula Vista burglary. Devault is also a suspect in other Chula Vista burglaries, police said.
Devault was undergoing psychiatric evaluation at the Van Nuys jail, police said.
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