BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Police arrest...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Police arrest man afterstandoff

Police arrested a 22-year-old Costa Mesa man Wednesday night after

a brief standoff in a parking lot where he was allegedly trying to

steal a car, officials said.

At about 10 p.m., Rosendo Pedraza was trying to drive away from

the parking lot of QSC Audio Products in the 1600 block of MacArthur

Boulevard in a 1989 Ford Probe, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford

said.

The car got stuck in a planter, and Pedraza was sitting in the car

when its owner walked out of the building and saw him, he said.

“He asked [Pedraza] to get out of the car, but that didn’t

happen,” Holford said. “So he called the police.”

When officers got there, Pedraza was still in the car and wouldn’t

come out, he said.

“Officers shot the less-lethal bean bag at him, but it didn’t

work,” Holford said.

A negotiator then talked to Pedraza for about half an hour to

persuade him to give in. He was taken into custody without incident

and was booked on suspicion of attempted auto theft.

Pedraza was also under the influence of a narcotic substance at

the time, Holford said.

No one was hurt during the incident, he said.