Tear Gas Used to Flush Out Armed Robbery Suspect Barricaded Inside Calabasas Home

CALABASAS, CA — An armed robbery suspect is in custody Monday morning after allegedly assaulting his father and barricading himself inside a Calabasas home, from which he was flushed out by an infusion of tear gas, authorities said.

Suspect John Marciniak, 26, was taken into custody about 11:25 p.m. Sunday, said Deputy Crystal Hernandez of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.

SWAT deputies fired tear gas into the home to get the suspect to come out, said Sgt. Fray Lupian of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

The incident began at 8:18 p.m. when Ventura County sheriff's deputies were conducting surveillance on a home in the 5900 block of Las Virgenes Road before executing a warrant to arrest Marciniak in connection with an armed robbery at a gas station Thursday, Hernandez said.

While deputies watched the residence, "the suspect assaulted his father during an altercation," she said. "The suspect's father left the location and contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Los Hills Station."

Marciniak refused to leave the residence, prompting the SWAT team to mobilize for a barricaded suspect response, Hernandez said.

"As a precaution, evacuations were issued for those residents in the affected area," she said. They were allowed to return to their homes after Marciniak was taken into custody.

Marciniak was a suspect in last Thursday's armed robbery at a Mobile gas station at 942 South Westlake Blvd. in Thousand Oaks, said Ventura sheriff's Capt. Todd Inglis.

— City News Service, photo courtesy of the LASD