Crime & Safety

SWAT Fires Tear Gas to Clear Car of Occupant

Concerned he had a firearm, suspect was flushed out by authorities in Laguna Hills.

An Orange County sheriff’s SWAT team fired tear gas canisters into a car and flushed out a man early today after a standoff of more than four hours in Laguna Hills, authorities said.

The incident started with a family dispute and the man leaving the scene in a car, which deputies located in the 23000 block of Del Lago Drive about 7:20 p.m. Sunday, said sheriff’s Lt. Joe Gaul.

“When deputies tried to make contact, he refused to exit the vehicle,” Gaul said.

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“There were reports from his family he sometimes had a firearm and there were threats of gun use,” he added without reporting if the man had a weapon in the car.

The SWAT team was called to the scene and an effort began to talk the man out of the car until about midnight when tear gas was shot inside the vehicle and “he exited without further incident” around 12:05, Gaul said.

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-City News Service

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