LAPD Arrest Suspect Barricaded in Home

GRANADA HILLS, Apr. 5, 2007 - A man who allegedly pointed what turned out to be a replica shotgun at partygoers in Granada Hills early Thursday was taken into custody at a neighboring home several hours later by a SWAT team, Los Angeles police reported.
Police received a call around 1 a.m. reporting that a man had walked out of a neighboring house and pointed a shotgun at people leaving a party at 10528 Zelzah Ave., said Sgt. Bruce Vermaat of the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire Station.

The man then ran back inside the home next door around 1:30 a.m., Vermaat said. A SWAT team arrived on scene around 3 a.m., and neighboring residences were evacuated. Officers tried to contact the man, using a loudspeaker to try to coax him out, the sergeant said.

About 5 a.m., the SWAT team entered the home and found Jose Chavez asleep, along with some other people in the residence, and located the replica shotgun, LAPD officials said.
Chavez, who is in his 20s, was booked on suspicion of brandishing a replica weapon, said LAPD Officer Karen Smith.