Crescent City man arrested after standoff

A Crescent City man was taken into custody Thursday morning after a brief standoff with law enforcement.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, which declined to comment and directed the Triplicate to a prepared statement, deputes were attempting to carry out an eviction at space No. 5 in the Crescent City Mobile Park, located at 1811 Northcrest Drive. The accused, later identified as Jaime Lopez, 50, threatened deputies, indicating he was going to detonate propane gas tanks, putting other residents within the vicinity in danger, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies evacuated neighbors in the surrounding area.

Power and gas was shut off to the residence as law enforcement continued to negotiate for a peaceful conclusion, communicating in both English and Spanish, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

After several unsuccessful attempts to verbally gain cooperation, less-than-lethal bean bag munitions were deployed to vent the residence windows. Several less-than-lethal and frangible pepper-spray balls were then shot into the dwelling while law enforcement representatives continued to demand the barricaded occupant surrender by walking out the front door, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Just before noon, Lopez exited the residence and surrendered. He was taken into custody and the interior of the dwelling was checked by law enforcement. The Sheriff’s Office added they found no other individuals but did discover evidence to support that Lopez had been attempting to carry out the threats he made.