Authorities eventually cleared the scene of an eight-hour standoff in the Clairemont neighborhood hours after it ended, without making any arrests.
San Diego Police Department (SDSD) Lt. Scott Wahl said the suspect, identified as Eric, still has a misdemeanor charge pending, though it is unclear yet if it will become a warrant.
Police left the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning after they felt it was safe to leave, Wahl said. No arrests have been made.
The standoff began Saturday afternoon when San Diego Police first received calls of a man screaming and breaking things inside of his home at around 1:35 p.m. on the 3400 block of Jemez Drive near Moraga Avenue.
According to SDPD Lt. Dan Grubbs, officers determined that the man, identified as Eric, was alone inside of the home and attempts to communicate with the man were unsuccessful. Police then left the home.
Shortly after, police were called back to the home after receiving reports that the man grabbed hold of his mother outside of their duplex and wouldn't let go. A neighbor rushed over to help free the woman, and that's when the man retrieved a weapon from inside and began threatening the neighbor, police said.
The mother told police that the suspect has a history of mental instability. Police say they have come to the house several times in the past, but up until now, the man has not committed any crimes.
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Police tried talking with the suspect for a moment before he went back inside of the house.
It was at this time when the suspect barricaded himself inside and refused to come out, police said. Additional officers, including SWAT units, called to the scene surrounded the home just after 3 p.m.
A SDPD negotiating team tried to communicate with the man with a loudspeaker throughout the night. Lt. Grubbs said that the totality of the crime did not warrant forcible entry into the home, but police did deploy a flash bang at around 8:30 p.m. to try and persuade the man to come out.
At 10:30 p.m., SDPD officials made the decision to pull the majority of officers out of the area, leaving some at the property in case the suspect decides to come out, Lt. Grubbs said.
"We're still going to follow up with investigators for the crimes that were committed," Lt. Grubbs said. "We're going to get a warrant for arrest and come back and execute that order at a time when it's going to be safer for the subject, our officers, his mother and all of the neighbors."
SDPD officials consulted with the family about the option to forcibly remove the suspect, but the family preferred a more passive approach which led to the strategy now in place.
