PICO BOULEVARD — Unsure of the nature of his problem, police spent nearly 12 hours on Thursday attempting to talk a man off the roof of an apartment building.
The man, whose identity wasn’t known, finally climbed to safety at 4:18 p.m., after refusing to cooperate with Santa Monica Police since about 5 a.m.
About three dozen emergency personnel, including the fire department, the SMPD’s SWAT team and crisis negotiation team, responded to the scene. Pico Boulevard was shut down between 30th and 32nd streets in both directions most of the day.
“Officers attempted to talk to him and he continuously refused,” said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. “Negotiators from the SMPD were successful in taking the suspect into custody without injury.”
The man was taken to a local hospital for a psychological evaluation.
Although the SMPD received a call at 6:28 a.m. regarding a suspicious person on the roof of an apartment building in the 3100 block of Pico Boulevard, witnesses say he was there yelling from shortly after 5 a.m.
“He was yelling ‘they are going to kill me. Don’t leave. Call the LAPD,’” said Stewart Resmer, who works nearby at the Morgan West auto dealership, located at 3003 Pico Blvd.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 21, 2005. Read the original PDF.