Man Coaxed Into Custody With Sandwich After Standoff At Venice Market

VENICE, CA — A man who officers believed to be mentally ill barricaded himself inside a store at the Venice Beach Boardwalk for about three hours on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Officer Warren Moore with the LAPD told Patch the man walked into the store from a side entrance at about 1:08 p.m. and started breaking glass inside. Moore said the man was not armed and there were no other people inside the store with him.

Police closed the area near the 1100 block of Ocean Front Walk at around 3 p.m. and asked that people avoid the area during the investigation.

A witness told KNX News the man had been talking incoherently before entering the market, and people scrambled from the store when he went inside. A mental-health negotiation team was dispatched to the scene in hopes of talking the man out of the store.

Shortly after 4 p.m., police were able to convince the man to come to the front door of the store using a sandwich and took him into custody according to KNX News reports. No injuries were reported according to LAPD.

City News Service contributed to this report.