WOODLAND, Calif. — A wanted suspect is in custody after an hours-long standoff with Woodland police that caused lockdowns at nearby schools.
Sgt. Richard Towle, spokesperson for Woodland Police Department, said a 39-year-old suspect was spotted by an officer around 1:30 p.m. He had a warrant for his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, but after an officer tried to do a traffic stop, the man took off, eventually leaving his car behind and running toward a residential neighborhood south of Maxwell Elementary School.
The suspect, identified as Jeffery Card, was then spotted on a rooftop, and police set up a perimeter due to the threat to public safety. Towle said they recovered two handguns along the path he ran, but he added the man might have been armed during the standoff.
Negotiations stretched for hours, with Towle saying that the suspect might try to take his own life. Family members and friends also tried to speak with him.
Cumberto Silva, who said he knew Card, spoke to him in an effort to get him down from the roof.
"I just told him, 'Man, it's not worth it. You can get another shot. There are other shots in life.' He's not a bad dude. He just at the wrong place at the wrong time," said Silva.
Police said Card jumped onto several rooftops while refusing to surrender, but around 5:30 p.m., police said the suspect was taken into custody safely.
Card was booked into the county jail on suspicion of resisting/delaying officers, evading, prohibited persons in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and his warrant.
The Woodland Joint Unified School District said the incident didn't involve any of the schools, with Towle reiterating the same. Freeman and Woodland High Schools were also on a temporary lockdown, according to the school district. The lockdowns included Greengate school as well.
Maxwell Elementary School and Greengate schools were the last lockdowns in place as parents tried to pick their children up from school. Towle hoped to have students back home by nightfall. As of roughly 5:30 p.m., parents were allowed to pick up students at Maxwell Elementary School.
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