Briefly in the news

Police arrested a Costa Mesa motel manager who locked himself in his

office for four hours Wednesday morning after he heard the owner was

coming over to fire him, officials said.

Officers arrested Costa Mesa Motor Inn manager Brooks Reedy, 39, after

a four-hour standoff on suspicion of grand theft, embezzlement and

interfering with the performance of a police officer’s duties, said Lt.

Dale Birney. No weapons were involved in the incident.

Birney said the motel owner suspected Reedy of embezzling money from

the business and was on his way to fire him when Reedy caught wind of it

and locked himself in his office, refusing to let either the owner or

police enter.

“It was a daylong shindig,” Birney said. “The call went out at 8:20

a.m. and he was arrested around 12:40 p.m. That’s pretty unusual.”

He said officers were still at the motel about 6 p.m. trying to obtain

a search warrant to inspect Reedy’s office and apartment in the complex.

Rick Feeney, a resident at the Motor Inn, said he was awakened

Wednesday when he heard Reedy on the public announcement system “yelling

and going nuts.”

“He said nobody was doing their job and he was going to fire

everybody,” Feeney said. “Then he was just rambling and I couldn’t even

understand what he was saying. He was just going crazy.”

He said residents could, however, enter or leave the building using

another entrance.

Reedy is being held in Costa Mesa jail with bail set at $50,000. He is

scheduled to be arraigned today at Harbor Justice Center.