A 38-year-old homeless man was arrested after allegedly assaulting a lifeguard with a metal rod in Santa Monica, police said Tuesday.
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Officers responded to the 1200 block of Ocean Front Walk at about 11 a.m. Monday where a man later identified as Michael Vincent Parrett jumped from the roof of Lifeguard Tower 12 and approached the victim with a rod, thrusting the object at the lifeguard several times, according to spokesperson Myesha Morrison of the Santa Monica Police Department.
The lifeguard managed to dodge the attack and sustained no injuries.
Parrett was eventually located by responding officers in the 400 block of Palisades Beach Road and began running on the sidewalk, approaching multiple bystanders while holding the metal object, Morrison said.
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"Due to the risk of the suspect falling onto PCH and into traffic, CHP assisted in closing northbound and southbound traffic," Morrison said in a statement. "The suspect made multiple statements threatening that he would not give up without a fight, resulting in the Crisis Negotiations Team responding to the location."
Negotiations continued for over 90 minutes as Parrett made statements to officers that they would need to shoot him before he'd surrender to police, Morrison said.
Officers attempted to utilize "less than lethal" measures to have Parrett drop the rod and surrender, but the suspect allegedly continued to hold onto the metallic object.
Parrett was taken into custody a short time later with the assistance of a police dog.
He was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being transported to Santa Monica Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to inflict significant bodily injury.
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