SIMI VALLEY : Man Gives Up After 7-Hour Standoff

An armed, 30-year-old Simi Valley man suspected of beating his girlfriend held police at bay for seven hours Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning before officers persuaded him to surrender, authorities said.

Thomas G. Rex barricaded himself inside his East Street home late Tuesday night after his girlfriend, Debbie Rogers, told Simi Valley police that he had beaten her, Lt. Richard F. Thomas said.

Rogers told officers responding to her call at 10:47 p.m. that Rex had assaulted her and was armed with a small-caliber semiautomatic rifle, Thomas said.

Officers established a perimeter around the home and contacted Rex by telephone, Thomas said. “The suspect confirmed to the officers that he was armed with a rifle, and threatened to kill himself if approached,” he said.

The Simi Valley Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics and crisis negotiating teams were called to the scene, and after lengthy phone communications, Rex surrendered at 5:49 a.m., Thomas said. Rex was being held on $75,000 bail at County Jail on suspicion of inflicting injury on his spouse.