Homeowner Frees 4 Hostages, Is Jailed

An Anaheim man distraught over an impending foreclosure held four people hostage in his two-story home for about 30 minutes Wednesday morning, police said.

Walter Greene, 47, left the house with his hands raised, offering no resistance when police arrested him on suspicion of kidnaping and brandishing a firearm.

At about 10:30 a.m., a man who said he had been held in Greene’s home at 5140 E. Greensboro Lane flagged down a police officer who was patrolling the Anaheim Hills area. The man said that three other people were being held in the house.

Before more police arrived, Greene allowed two other people, a male pest control worker and a female messenger, to leave the house about 10:50 a.m., witnesses said.

Greene stayed in the house with the remaining man, an unidentified attorney, for five or 10 minutes more, police said.

Finally, without communicating with police, Greene let the attorney go and calmly surrendered to police, who said they found a .38-caliber handgun in the house.

The messenger, shaken but calm after leaving the house, said she had gone there to deliver a message to the attorney who was inside.

“I had just entered when (Greene) said, ‘Sit down.’ He said, ‘Shut up if you don’t want to get hurt,’ or something like that,” recounted Pat Aladana, 28, who works for Select Messenger of Los Angeles.

Greene was being held in Anaheim City Jail Wednesday night on $50,000 bail, according to Officer Joe Karns.