SEE: Baseball Bat-Wielding Man Strikes Out In Epic Police Takedown

WEST COVINA, CA — A man who attacked the front windows of the West Covina Police station with a baseball bat on Monday was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the department.

"West Covina officers are used to responding to incidents and on Monday, officers had an incident in their station's lobby," Rudy Lopez of the West Covina Police Department said.

Lopez said Christopher Rivas, a 28-year-old West Covina resident, arrived to strike the front bulletproof windows of the station repeatedly with a baseball bat. What happened next is being called by police departments across the country a "textbook" execution of a takedown scenario without deadly force.

"The department has encountered (Rivas) in the past, and had some history into his mental state," Lopez said in interview. "Officers inside recognized him and realized he was probably experiencing an episode."

Inside the lobby, while Rivas was attacking the glass as the video below shows, three women were corralled to the left and taken into a more secure part of the building while a West Covina officer held the suspect at bay, according to Lopez.

"His attention was focused on the officers inside the lobby, however one of our officers was leaving city hall on same property and heard pounding of baseball bat on building," Lopez said. "The access way from city hall was behind the suspect, and Rivas did not sense the officer coming up behind him though officers inside could see him rushing up."

The timing was right, and the suspect never looked behind, completely focused on the inside of the police lobby.

"(Rivas) created a situation where deadly force as considered as an option, but officers took him down without it," Lopez said. "The take-down was coordinated based upon the officer's training, what they knew of the suspect, and was a textbook procedure of what should happen in a scenario such as this. That's getting recognition by other departments on our Facebook page right now, with departments saying this was a textbook handling of a situation such as this and the video would be a good tool for police training.”

After Rivas was arrested, he was taken to the hospital for hitting his head during the event. According to Lopez, charges are pending, as the man’s mental health is being evaluated.

Though Rivas was wearing a jacket that said “Security” on the back, according to West Covina department officers he is not currently employed by a security company or otherwise, Lopez said.

As for the handling of the officers, West Covina is happy to share the teaching tool with departments through sharing the video of the attack.

“Every time the suspect changes position, his stance or whether he advances on officers or retreats from them the officers plans have to change,” Lopez said. “While officers were prepared to use deadly force, it was determined that was not necessary.”

A sign of the times, this is reality for police departments nationwide.

“There are options for officers when we encounter issues and this one worked out,” Lopez said. “It could have easily gone the other way."

Photos, courtesy West Covina Police Department