Thread: Standoff with officers ends quietly

Standoff with officers ends quietly
BY SHELLIE BRANCO
e-mail: sbranco@bakersfield.com
Thursday, Mar 15 2007 10:50 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 15 2007 10:55 PM

Liliana Duran was getting ready to go to school at her family's apartment when the feds came for her father.

The 12-year-old said she and her six sisters and their mother tried to protect Roberto Torres-Duran during his standoff Thursday in east Bakersfield with the Kern County Sheriff's Department SWAT team. The officers broke windows, she said. And the family didn't want to let Torres-Duran out because he is an undocumented immigrant -- it's why officers came after him, Liliana said. Torres-Duran wanted to kill himself during the standoff.

"He was gonna kill himself 'cause he didn't want to serve his life in jail," she said.

The standoff

The standoff ended peacefully Thursday afternoon after deputies took Torres-Duran, originally wanted for parole violation and illegal immigration, into custody.

The 30-year-old surrendered around 1:45 p.m. near his apartment at 700 Knotts St., according to senior deputy Dana Albro.

Deputies found Torres-Duran's seven children and his wife in the home with him, said Cmdr. Francis Moore, who is in charge of the sheriff's special operations division.

No one in the home was injured. Moore had said one person was transported by ambulance to the hospital for an unknown reason. But sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Barnes said Thursday evening a female was treated and released at the scene, although he did not know the injury.

No weapons were found, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Moore said he wasn't sure if Torres-Duran was in danger of deportation.

It began Thursday morning

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state parole agents went to arrest Torres-Duran around 7 a.m., according to the release.

Torres-Duran would not answer the door and refused to submit to arrest, according to the release.

Relatives contacted the agents and reported Torres-Duran was inside the residence and would not allow family members to leave, according to the release.

The agents requested the Sheriff's Department's assistance. The scene was secured and negotiations were established with the suspect.

The negotiators were able to convince Torres-Duran to release the family members, according to the release.

When he came out, he was surrounded by his children and wife. Moore said he was using them as a shield.

Law enforcement instructed the children to separate and go to a neighbor's apartment for safety.

At about 1:25 p.m., Liliana was escorted to a SWAT crisis intervention vehicle. Deputies gave her a bottle of water. After exiting the vehicle, she stood with officials talking. She then sat inside another law enforcement vehicle.

Torres-Duran was taken into custody without incident and transported to the downtown jail where he was booked for parole violation and hostage-taking, according to the release. Additional charges may be filed. No bail was set, Barnes said.

The Sheriff's Department continued to interview those involved in the incident Thursday afternoon.

Effect on the neighborhood

Neighbor Mike Korin said he was visiting a friend at a nearby apartment complex in the morning when he heard people saying to take the girls out. He left and when he returned to the area, he saw the neighborhood blocked off with police tape.

"They shouldn't do that all for one guy," he said. "They should've just knocked."

Baker Street from Irene Street to the north and Bernard Street to the south was closed around 10 a.m. and opened shortly after the standoff ended.

Moore said a review of the family will be conducted to determine what should happen to the children. The grandparents might be able to take them, he said.

After the standoff, Liliana said she was doing "OK," but the experience was scary.

She said she didn't know what would happen to her and her sisters. The oldest is 13 years old, the youngest is 3. She said her father has served four years in prison and he's crossed the U.S.-Mexico border many times.

Criminal history

Kern County Superior Court Web site records date Torres-Duran's criminal history back to 1997.

He has pleaded guilty to a few misdemeanors.

In 2004 he pleaded no contest to a charge of possessing, manufacturing or selling a weapon.

Liliana said there were no weapons at the home and her father is a good man. He's never talked about criminal activity.

"That's why he wanted to cross the border, because he loves us and we love him," she said.


http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/105525.html

The standoff ended peacefully Thursday afternoon after deputies took Torres-Duran, originally wanted for parole violation and illegal immigration, into custody.

This is not the first report I've read regarding the apprehension of a parole violating criminal alien. Can someone please tell me how an illegal gets parole vice deportation? In my mind it just doesn't make logical sense.

I don't get it what happen to the mother??? why do they have to worry about where the children are going, the article said their mother was there!!! I'm Lost, its very late I must be tired.

When he came out, he was surrounded by his children and wife. Moore said he was using them as a shield.

Here we have another illegal alien child user i.e. abuser. He must be another one of those illegals with good family values.