Crime & Safety
Man Arrested After SF Valley Standoff Abandons Appeal
He led police on a chase from El Sereno to the Valley, where he holed up in a NoHo house for hours and fired at law enforcement. [Breaking]
LOS ANGELES - At the defense's request, a state appellate court panel Thursday dismissed an appeal filed on behalf of a felon who led police on a chase from El Sereno to North Hollywood and held officers at bay for about three hours in 2014.
Nolan Perez pleaded no contest last year to two counts of assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic weapon and one count each of criminal threats against an ex-girlfriend and attempted carjacking. He unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his plea at his June 2015 sentencing, in which he was ordered to serve 33 years in state prison.
Perez -- who had multiple prior convictions including one for domestic violence in 2011 -- pointed a loaded semiautomatic rifle at police during a high-speed chase that lasted nearly an hour before he ran into a North Hollywood residence, where he remained for three hours and fired at police before he was arrested on June 9, 2014, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. No one was struck.
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Shortly after police fired tear gas canisters into the residence, he came out unarmed and dropped face-down on the ground. SWAT officers moved in and took him into custody.
He has remained behind bars since then.
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After Perez's sentencing, defense attorney E.J. Montanez said Perez decided to accept the plea deal because he could have faced life in prison if he had gone to trial and been convicted.
"He was highly under the influence of alcohol and drugs prior to that. He doesn't remember any of the events," the attorney said. "He has a tumor in the brain that alters his behavior, especially when he is under the influence of drugs and alcohol ... He did not mean to act the way he did."
Also see: Man Stabbed To Death Taking Bath At Northridge Apartment: Police
Previous standoff case coverage:
- Judge Doesn't Buy Brain Tumor Defense in Standoff Sentencing
- NoHo Standoff Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Stalking, Threatening Ex-Girlfriend
- UPDATE: Gunman Holed Up in North Hollywood Residence Surrenders to Police
--City News Service/Patch file image
