Man Hospitalized, Arrested in Assault

A Thousand Oaks man is in serious condition after repeatedly stabbing himself in the torso at the end of a heated standoff with sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

Deputies were called to a home in the 3700 block of Danmont Court about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to investigate a report that Robert Joyce, 45, had struck his 43-year-old wife, Sindee Joyce, sheriff’s deputies said.

When they arrived, deputies said, they found Robert Joyce at the front door of the home holding a steak knife. He slammed the door and reappeared a few moments later on the roof of the residence, deputies said.

Joyce began ripping tiles from the roof and throwing them at authorities while yelling death threats, officers said. After striking Deputies Larry House and Matt Volpe with the tiles, Joyce challenged authorities to shoot him, officials said.

He then stabbed himself three times in the abdomen and chest before climbing back into the house through a bedroom window. He returned to the roof with a personal computer that he threw at the deputies, smashing it on a car parked in the driveway below.

Joyce said he had turned on the gas inside the house and was preparing to light a match to kill everyone nearby, authorities said. Deputies fired three rounds from a bean-bag rifle at Joyce, but the impact did not deter him, and he continued to yell threats, investigators said.

About 30 minutes after the standoff began, Joyce climbed back into the home. Deputies charged into the house and found him in an upstairs bathroom lying semiconscious in a pool of blood. He was rushed to Los Robles Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for his stab wounds.

Sindee Joyce was also found in the house, but she suffered only minor bruises and did not require medical attention, authorities said.

Joyce, who was on probation for drug charges, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon upon officers and on his wife. Once he recovers, he will be transferred to Ventura County Jail, where his bail is expected to be set at $250,000, authorities said.