CASTAIC : Freeway Closed While Man Arrested
A 69-year-old man who refused to leave his motor home Wednesday after being stopped on the Golden State Freeway north of Castaic Lake forced officers to temporarily close several lanes for nearly five hours while the man was forced from the vehicle, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Elmer H. Roberts of Lincoln, Calif., was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for trying to run several motorists off the freeway, CHP Officer John Manduca said.
Two northbound lanes of the freeway were closed while CHP officers and a hostage negotiating team from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tried to persuade Roberts to leave the motor home, which was hauling a car.
The incident began when CHP Officer Andy Swanson stopped Roberts at about 2:45 p.m. for speeding, swerving, towing a vehicle in one of the fast lanes and failing to stop, the CHP said.
Roberts eventually stopped in the fast lane, blocking traffic, Manduca said.
When Swanson and other CHP officers tried to get Roberts to pull the motor home to the side of the road, he threatened to shoot anyone who tried to enter the vehicle, Manduca said.
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