SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A Rolando neighborhood was on lockdown for nine hours on Sunday after an armed man barricaded himself inside a stranger’s home.
Police and a SWAT team ultimately arrested the suspect around 9 p.m.
While the man was running from police in the neighborhood, he first tried to hide inside Marisela Bradley’s home.
In a tense and frightening moment – she came face to face with the suspect.
“I was about right here…and he was standing just about here,” Marisela told ABC 10News reporter Madison Weil.
Marisela explains she was home alone when the man frantically barged in.
“He just said please don’t tell the cops I’m here...I need a place to hide,” she said.
She did her best to remain calm.
“I just kept thinking okay…just agree with what he’s saying and really just get out,” she said.
She slowly made her way towards the door.
“As I was talking to him I had my hands up and I just kind of walked around,” she said.
Marisela then ran outside to get help.
The man left her apartment and shortly after barricaded himself in the home across the street.
A SWAT team deescalated the situation – coaxing him out by sending a robot in with a cell phone attached to communicate. He was ultimately arrested on the lawn.
Marisela says she and her husband, Seth, are still processing the whole thing.
“It was really scary…because it’s just the unknown of not knowing where it could go,” she said.
She called her husband as soon as she was safe.
“First thing she said was, 'I’m okay,'” Seth said.
He says it was a phone call and a sense of relief he’ll never forget.
“It really puts everything on hold and makes you appreciate being alive and being safe," he said.
Police say the man had four active warrants out for his arrest including one relating to assault with a gun.
