Sword-wielding suspect arrested in a towel after breaking into Venice home
It was a terrifying moment for Marcia Davalos when she returned home and found a man she didn't know inside.
"He said that it was his place," she said. "The minute I walked in I was like 'What are you doing here and he was like I live here and I was like no you don't. You don't live here.'"
Davalos called the police at about 12:25 p.m. shortly after this odd yet terrifying interaction. The suspect seemed to be armed with a knife and sword in a video that Davalos sent to police. The weapons instigated a massive response from LAPD, with a SWAT team, air support and even a robot.
After a nearly four-hour standoff, police used the robot to assess the situation. Just before 4:30 p.m. police gassed out the suspect, who was apparently caught showering. He surrendered to police in just a towel.
Davalos said the suspect trashed her home before giving up.
"He tore it up," she said. "There's so much garbage in there."
Police said they are unsure if the suspect was homeless, however, residents said they've seen the man sleeping on patios in the past few weeks.
"It's just sad you know," Davalos said. "It's so sad that the community has to keep enduring this kind of stuff. It shouldn't be happening, should not be happening."
Blocks of nearby Abbot Kinney Boulevard were closed off as the entire ordeal played out.
"It's disappointing because I'm a local here," said worker Diana Cheng. "It sucks that this happening to your community but it's unfortunately not surprising because this happens a lot."
According to nearby resident Deb Keaton, this isn't the first time an interaction like this has happened in Venice. A year ago, a man living in an encampment confront Keaton and said he was going to kill her husband.
Tonight, she has a message for her down-the-street neighbor.
"I'm so sorry, if you need a place to stay I'm down the street from you," said Keaton. "I've been living in Venice for 30 years. It gets bad. It gets good. It's getting better now. It's going to be much better now that we have new leadership in office."
