Armed standoff in Merced County ends with one man in custody

A three-hour standoff with a man reportedly armed and high on methamphetamine ended Friday after he was taken into custody, the Merced County Sheriff's Office reports.

The 32-year-old man, later identified by deputies as Will McDaniel Areias, recently was evicted from a home on the property in the 1700 block of Plow Camp Road, southwest of Los Banos, according to Merced County Sheriff's Deputy Daryl Allen.

Deputies were called to the property at 7:16 a.m. after residents spotted the man inside the car.

Allen said investigators believe the man was "under the influence of methamphetamine" and armed with a .22-caliber pistol, which was later determined to have been a flare gun. Deputies said Areias was inside the car when deputies arrived and “used some sort of cloth bag to cover up all the windows.”

“Additionally, Areias stated that he was not going peacefully and ‘things were not going to end well,’” deputies said in a news release.

Deputies eventually convinced Aries to surrender. There were no injuries.

He was arrested in connection with the alleged restraining-order violation.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Armed standoff in Merced County ends with one man in custody."