Mother Persuades Suspect to End Four-Hour Standoff

A robbery suspect who barricaded himself in his Huntington Beach home Friday agreed to surrender at his mother’s request, ending a four-hour standoff with police.

Huntington Beach Police Lt. Jack Reinholtz said Joel Roberts, 21, surrendered to officers at about 2:30 p.m. and was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery. Roberts was being held without bail in the City Jail, Reinholtz said.

Police said a gunman resembling Roberts robbed Regal Cleaners at 19080 Brookhurst St. at about 9:50 a.m., taking about $100.

A witness chased the bandit into an adjacent housing tract and allegedly saw him run inside the home at 19422 Olana Drive, which Roberts shares with his mother, police said.

Officers surrounded the home, cordoned off the street, evacuated several residences and tried unsuccessfully to reach the suspect by telephone.

A SWAT team arrived at the home by noon and officers continued to order Roberts to surrender, Sgt. Dennis Martin said.

Police telephoned Roberts’ mother, Roberta M. Roberts, at work and asked that she come to the house and try to talk her son into surrendering, Reinholtz said, adding: “(Roberts) agreed to come out if his mother accompanied him.”