08.29.2023 | 4:19 PM | SANTA ANA – A man armed with an apparent handgun prompted evacuations before the 10-hour standoff came to a peaceful end, early Wednesday morning.
The standoff began when officers responded to reports of a man holding an apparent handgun in a parking lot located in the 1900 block of 17th Street around 4:19 PM.
When officers confronted the man, he refused to drop the weapon or surrender ultimately leading to the evacuation of several nearby businesses.
A police SWAT team along with crisis negotiators surrounded the man and used a police robot to deliver a cell phone and water to the man.
Negotiators worked for well over 10 hours to entice the man into surrendering, which he did around 2:50 AM.
Police took the man into custody without further incident.
About 50 people were unable to retrieve there vehicles until after the man surrendered and all traffic on 17th Street was halted into the early morning hours.
It is unclear if the apparent handgun was real or if anyone was threatened with the item but police said the suspect was charged with various weapons violations.
It remains unclear what prompted the incident.