Commerce Casino barricade involving man with knife ends after two hours

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Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Commerce Casino standoff involving man armed with knife ends
A standoff at the Commerce Casino involving a man with a knife ended after about two hours with the man being transported to a hospital.

COMMERCE, Calif. (KABC) -- A man armed with a knife was involved in a standoff with deputies inside the Commerce Casino for more than two hours Tuesday morning.

The barricade ended just before 8 a.m. and the man was being transported to a local hospital, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The incident began around 5:30 a.m. at the casino in the 6100 block of Telegraph Road.

The Sheriff's Department says deputies were called on a report of a man pointing a knife at casino security and refusing to leave.

Deputies responded with crisis negotiators and a mental-health evaluation team. They tried to convince him to surrender. Eventually they took him into custody using less-lethal force.

More than a dozen L.A. County sheriff's vehicles were seen outside the casino, located just off the 5 Freeway and less than a mile from the Citadel Outlets.

No injuries to sheriff's deputies were reported.

The individual was brought by ambulance to a nearby hospital and is expected to face charges related to the incident.