Local News Briefs

Suspect Flushed Out in Palisades

Los Angeles SWAT officers fired tear gas into a residence at a mobile home park in Pacific Palisades today and flushed out a suspect, ending a standoff of nearly three hours, authorities said.

The suspect had been sought for making criminal threats against a woman at the unit around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, said Los Angeles police Lt. Lonnie Tiano

The suspect barricaded himself inside a residence at the mobile home park in the 17000 block of Pacific Coast Highway and was suspected of being armed, police said. The SWAT team was deployed around 1:30 a.m. after the suspect refused to leave the residence.

Tiano said tear gas was used to force the suspect out around 4:20 a.m., and no one was injured. The suspect will be booked for making criminal threats, he said.

Santa Monica Homeless Population Has Decreased From 2013

The City of Santa Monica announced a five percent decrease in homeless individuals during the city’s Point-In Time homeless count. The findings of the Citywide 2014 Homeless Count were released at the Social Services Commission meeting.

More than 250 community volunteers and City staff covered each street in Santa Monica on the night of Jan. 29, 2014 – a total of 226 linear miles – to tally homeless individuals they encountered as well cars, RVs, tents, and boxes in which someone appeared to be living.

Homeless individuals in shelters, jails, motels, and hospitals were simultaneously counted by staff at each facility in the City.

The point-in-time homeless count found 742 individuals, a decrease from 780 (5 percent) in 2013.