A former L.A. judge was arrested today on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer after a standoff in the Sawtelle neighborhood came to a peaceful end early this morning, police said.
The suspect is retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Bascue, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
Bascue, who is in his 70s, was to be booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer in connection with the standoff, said Officer Liliana Preciado, an LAPD spokeswoman.
Preciado said police were called to a townhouse inside a gated community in the 1900 block of South Barrington Avenue around midnight by a caller who said he was being held hostage. When police arrived and looked through a window of the townhouse, they saw a man sitting on a couch with two guns, Preciado said.
When police tried to make contact with the gunman, he began loading magazines and a gun, Preciado said, adding that a shot was then fired inside the home, and another through the window toward officers. No officers were hurt, Preciado said.
As SWAT officers were called, the suspect contacted a neighbor, who talked him into walking out of the residence, Preciado said.
No one else was in the residence at the time of the stand-off, Preciado said. No information was immediately released on the caller who had reported being held hostage.
According to the website metnews.com , Bascue retired in June of 2007 after reaching the maximum retirement age of 67.
Bascue, who earned his law degree from UC Davis, was a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney from 1971 to 1990, serving as chief deputy from 1983 to 1985 under District Attorney Robert Philibosian.
In 1990, Bascue was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. George Deukmejian, and he was elected assistant presiding judge in 1999.
Bascue served as presiding judge from 2001-2002, and was honored in 2002 by the Judicial Council of California with its Jurist of the Year award.
