Man Barricades Himself in Van at Monterey Park Court

A man apparently distraught about losing custody of his children barricaded himself in a van in front of a courthouse in Monterey Park on Wednesday afternoon, prompting officials to hold about 200 people in the building as a precaution.

The standoff continued into the night. Sheriff’s deputies said they were reluctant to release the judges, lawyers, litigants, court employees and visitors in the building until the situation could be resolved.

Finally, after more than five hours, officers decided it was safe to begin evacuating people from the building, using a backdoor. The man, who had been using a cell phone to talk with The Times, remained in the van.

Signs in the windows of the van, parked sideways to block the main driveway of the Edelman Children’s Court, stated that there were no weapons or explosives in the van. Scrawled across the windshield in large letters were the words “DO NOT APPROACH.”

Monterey Park police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies surrounded the van at a distance but made no attempt to approach it.

In his four-hour conversation with The Times, the man, who identified himself as David Kooyman, 48, of Covina, said he was upset by a court referee’s decision in August 1997 to award custody of the children to their mother, from whom he is separated.

Court documents show that in 1996, social workers accused Kooyman of verbally and emotionally abusing the children. In July 1997, he was ordered to undergo counseling but was allowed monitored, weekly visits with the children. Kooyman said he lost track of the court’s actions in 1998 because he “began higher doses of medication.”

In a disjointed letter delivered to The Times, Kooyman wrote that he had been “systematically cut out” of his children’s lives.

“The last thing [Dist. Atty. Gil] Garcetti and the police want to do is rush my van,” he wrote. “Don’t think you have me figured out. You have no idea how desperate I am and how much pressure I am under.”

During his phone conversation, Kooyman said that the referee, Guillermina Byrne, had mishandled his case and should be arrested. He said he had enough supplies in the van to remain there for six months, and that he was prepared to endure tear gas and loud music.

“I have heavy duty earphones and a specially constructed soundproofed helmet that will muffle anything,” he said. “I’m not going to jail.”

Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this story.