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North Hills. After a nearly 4-hour standoff, a 28-year-old man was arrested after barricading himself inside a room of the Budget Inn on Sepulveda Boulevard.

It took tear gas rounds shot into the room by SWAT officers to drive the man out, who then gave up without a struggle before noon this morning.

The incident began when detectives went to the motel with information that Jason Paul Ramirez had stayed the night. He was wanted in three robberies of his elderly grandfather over the last month.

"We had been actively searching for Ramirez for the last week," said Captain Todd Chamberlain, who heads the Mission Area for LAPD. "This man's behavior had escalated toward his grandfather in such away that we needed to find him quickly."

Detectives backed away from the room after knocking, then hearing Ramirez barricade the door. A moment later, officers heard what sounded like a round being racked into a shotgun.

"The officers and detectives did the right thing to contain the motel and call SWAT," Capt. Chamberlain explained. "Time is on our side in these situations, and we use that time to bring these situations to a successful conclusion without any injuries or loss of life."

By all accounts, the operation was textbook: the suspect was arrested and there were no injuries to bystanders, Ramirez, or officers.

"And we have a very dangerous, drug-addicted felon who won't be brutalizing this grandfather for money to buy drugs," Capt. Chamberlain added.

While no shotgun was later found in the room, it was the officers' assessment of the risk and danger that prompted the cautious call to SWAT.

Ramirez will be booked for Robbery at the Mission Police Station. Ramirez lives in Arleta.

by
Lt. Paul Vernon