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Man sleeps during SWAT team standoff

A four-hour police standoff outside an apartment on the 200 block of Bernardo Avenue ended after Sunnyvale's SWAT unit stormed the residence, only to find the suspect was asleep in his bedroom.

Police were called to the residence shortly after 9:30 p.m. Thursday by a distraught woman who claimed her boyfriend was suicidal, Capt. Steve Pigott said.

The woman said she had just ended her relationship with the man when he brandished a .45-caliber semiautomatic gun. The woman left the apartment unharmed as police arrived. Police remained at bay until a hostage negotiator arrived on the scene.

Pigott said the hostage negotiator tried contacting the suspect by telephoning the apartment and shouting through a bullhorn. Police evacuated the neighboring apartments as a precaution.

After making no contact with the suspect for close to four hours, members of the SWAT unit entered the residence at about 1:25 a.m., Pigott said.

Approximately 14 SWAT members barreled through the unlocked front door behind a bulletproof shield.

As SWAT members made their way through the apartment, they approached a locked bedroom door. After SWAT members pounded on the door, the suspect opened it and asked, "What's going on?" according to Pigott.

Pigott said the suspect claimed to be asleep during the entire standoff.

Police found the gun under the suspect's pillow and sent the man to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation. No other charges were filed, Pigott said.

Arson suspect set to plead 'not guilty'

The Sunnyvale man charged with burglarizing and torching a slew of apartments in Santa Clara County will plead not guilty at a Sept. 2 hearing, his attorney said last week.

At the same time, prosecutors are adding 13 counts of burglary to Patrick Salinas' list of charges, which include 12 counts of attempted arson and 14 counts of burglary.

Deputy District Attorney Joyce Ferris-Metcalf said investigators believe Salinas is responsible for 13 other Sunnyvale burglaries from Oct. 12, 1997, through June of 1998.

"They did not have any kind of fires or arson." Ferris-Metcalf said of the additional burglaries.

Fire Marshall Byron Pipkin said investigators were no longer looking for other suspects connected to the arson-burglaries.

Each count of arson carries a 3- to 5- year sentence, and each burglary count carries a 2- to 4-year sentence, Pipkin said.

Salinas' attorney, Dennis Lempert, said his client will enter a not guilty plea partly because the district attorney's office has been slow in turning over police files related to the crimes.

"The DA has not handed over any police reports," Lempert said. "I still don't know what my client is accused of."

Ferris-Metcalf said Lempert has been provided with summary reports and has not requested the full-length police accounts.

"He's entitled to them and he's welcome to them," Ferris-Metcalf said. "They are going to take him quite a while to read," she added.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 26, 1998.
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