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Friday, Mar. 05, 2010

Peaceful end to standoff: 32-year-old man surrenders to Merced County Sheriff's SWAT.

LIVINGSTON -- A standoff between a 32-year-old man and law enforcement at a Livingston apartment complex ended peacefully Thursday evening.

The suspect, identified by Merced police as David Ramirez Coronado of Merced, surrendered to the Merced County Sheriff's SWAT team without incident, according to Deputy Tom MacKenzie, sheriff's spokesman.

The chain of events leading to the standoff happened after Merced police received a 2:30 p.m. phone call from a woman who reported her car had been stolen early Thursday morning by a suspect at gunpoint, according to Cmdr. Floyd Higdon.

Police responded to the 400 block of West 24th Street in Merced and spotted Coronado. When an officer ordered Coronado to stop, the suspect sped away in a car. Merced police pursued the suspect onto northbound Highway 99 and California Highway Patrol officers took up the chase.

The chase led to an apartment building near Walnut Avenue and Franci Street in Livingston. Coronado crashed the car into a tree stump and fled on-foot into the complex. The sheriff's SWAT Team, along with CHP and Livingston police, surrounded the building.

After more than two hours, Coronado exited a unit at the apartment and was taken into custody. It's believed no one else was inside the unit with the suspect, MacKenzie said.

The occupant of the residence consented to a search and Merced police were processing the scene Thursday night.

Coronado was taken to the Livingston Police Department for questioning after the incident.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.