Police Pursuit Of Possibly Armed Suspect Ends With Standoff In Laguna Beach
IRVINE (CBSLA) -- A man believed to be armed with a gun was pursued by Orange County Sheriff's in and around Orange County Wednesday.
The chase began near Laguna Beach around 3 p.m. and wended its way around Irvine, John Wayne Airport, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Newport Beach.
The chase ended in Newport Beach when the driver calmly pulled into a parking lot and began a standoff with police in the 1400 block of Avocado Drive.
When the chase entered Newport Beach, around 4 p..m., Newport Beach Police joined the pursuit.
Authorities were reportedly in contact with the suspect via cellphone.
The driver is in a silver Mercedes.
The Sheriff's department reported the suspect was originally wanted on a no-bail warrant.
He pulled into a parking lot in Newport Beach where he kept police at bay in a standoff. After about 40 minutes, the suspect is believed to have asked to speak to his mother via phone.
Wednesday evening, Newport Beach Police tweeted out a photo of the suspect.
At 3pm today, officers attempted to car stop Mr. Richard Bloustine but he decided to flee. After a lengthy pursuit, Bloustine was finally arrested in Newport Beach for a no bail warrant. He has extensive criminal history and we are all glad the events today ended peacefully. pic.twitter.com/ZmtFe9DilB
— Laguna Beach PD PIO (@LBPD_PIO_45) May 2, 2019
The suspect was taken into custody -- without incident -- just before 5 p.m.
He was identified as 53-year-old Richard Bloustine. The suspect was originally wanted for a felony bail warrant for fraud.
CBS2's Stacey Butler reported Bloustine has an extensive criminal record -- mostly for white collar crimes. She also reported that he had a recent domestic abuse charge including violating a restraining order.
In addition to another charge of domestic violation, she said his past also includes check fraud, grand theft and a number of other crimes.