OCTA Bus Holdup Ends With K9 Takedown: Cops

Lake Forest CA

09 October, 2020

1:03 PM

Description

ANAHEIM, CA — A K9 officer helped subdue a suspect who self-barricaded inside an Orange County Transit Authority bus overnight, authorities say. According to Orange County Sheriff's Department, the possibly armed man boarded the bus Thursday afternoon, then got into an argument with another passenger. That erupted into a fight, according to the sheriff's department. David Lavar Young, 57 of Santa Ana, allegedly threatened the victim with a weapon, which the victim described as "a box cutter or similar sharp object," according to OCSD Spokeswoman Carrie Braun. Young then got off the bus and boarded another OCTA bus. Deputies were able to locate and stop that bus at about 5 p.m. at the corner of Anaheim Boulevard and Cerritos Avenue. The bus's passengers, aided by deputies, safely disembarked the vehicle. Meanwhile, Young acted "confrontational," refusing to leave the transit authority vehicle. He allegedly threatened deputies, Braun said. The sheriff's department activated its crisis negotiation team and SWAT team. "After attempting to negotiate with the suspect for approximately four hours, they deployed and utilized CS gas, which is basically tear gas, to get him to exit the bus," Braun said. "Once he exited the bus, he still wasn't complying with deputies' commands to get on the ground, so they did deploy a canine." The canine officer bit Young, and he surrendered. He was taken into custody by 9:30 p.m., Braun said. Deputies are processing the bus to see if the suspect was armed with a sharp object, as the victim believed.