Police used tear gas to force Coachella standoff suspect from home

A 31-year-old man was in custody Friday after openingfire in his mother’s Coachella home, holding her captive and keeping a SWATteam at bay for nearly nine hours until he was flushed out by teargas,authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home in the 84900 block of Calle Verdeminutes after the man’s mother reported around 10:30 a.m. Thursday that herson was going “crazy” and had fired a gun, said Deputy Angel Ramos, aRiverside County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

The report received by deputies described suspect Jacob Nunez asmentally disturbed and dangerous.

Deputies surrounded the home after learning that Nunez was holding hismother inside against her will, and, when he refused to surrender, theyevacuated nearby homes, closed surrounding streets and placed two area schoolson lockdown, Ramos said.

A sheriff’s SWAT team and crisis negotiators were called in. During theensuing standoff, the man’s mother was able to escape through the rear of theresidence and was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, he said.

The SWAT team eventually”deployed chemical agents” into the home,prompting Nunez to surrender without further incident at 7:03 p.m., Ramossaid.

Nunez was booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio on suspicion ofkidnapping, false imprisonment and witness intimidation — all felonies — aswell as misdemeanor resisting/obstruction of a peace officer, according toonline jail records.

He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and was due in court in Indioon Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s department.