BMW Driver Leaps From Window, Runs Into Police

NAPA VALLEY, CA — A late-night call about a man with a gun turned into a crash, a foot chase, and a tense standoff that ended when a barricaded suspect tried to flee from a window but ran into a police officer below.

Just after midnight on Wednesday, a caller reported a man waving a gun at an apartment complex in American Canyon. Minutes later, they spotted a BMW and a driver who refused to stop, according to police.

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Police said 19-year-old Gabriel Avila sped away, crashed into a parked truck, jumped a median, and tore through bushes before circling back to the same complex. He climbed out of the car and ran inside an apartment, where he barricaded himself.

American Canyon police found a loaded short-barreled rifle on the floor of the BMW.

With help from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, police surrounded the building. As officers searched inside, Avila tried to climb out a first-floor window but ran into an officer stationed outside, police said on social media. After a brief standoff, officers talked him into surrendering.

Authorities booked him into the Napa County Department of Corrections on suspicion of carrying a loaded and illegal firearm, fleeing police, hit-and-run driving, resisting officers, and DUI.