Deputies Wound Man in Standoff

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies shot and wounded a Camarillo man late Tuesday after a three-hour standoff at his home, where he had barricaded himself with his father after a confrontation with police.

Sheriff’s Capt. Bruce Norris said the standoff began shortly after 6 p.m. when deputies attempted to confront John Elijah Rocks, 36, who had eluded authorities earlier during a high-speed pursuit.

When approached by deputies, Rocks fled inside his home in the 800 block of Rowland Avenue. He later pulled a knife and slashed the right arm of an officer during a scuffle at an open window, authorities said.

Deputies set up a perimeter after Rocks refused to surrender. The sheriff’s SWAT unit and hostage negotiators were called in.

Shortly before 10 p.m., officers fired a flash-bang device and half a dozen gunshots, as residents in the upper-middle-class neighborhood looked on.

At one point, Rocks emerged and confronted deputies, who shot a combination of “lethal and nonlethal rounds” at him, authorities said.

He was transported by ambulance to an area hospital. It was unclear whether his injuries were life-threatening.

His father was also taken to a local hospital but was not believed to be injured.

The incident began about 4 p.m. when sheriff’s deputies responded to a call that a man in a black Mustang was driving erratically in the neighborhood. When deputies tried to conduct a traffic stop, Rocks led them on a chase through city streets and onto the Ventura Freeway, reaching speeds up to 100 mph, authorities said.

They later lost Rocks. Tracking his license plate number, they went to his house and found him walking along the street. Then he fled inside the house.