Man Barricades Himself In Beverly Hills Garage, Sets Small Fire

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — N. Beverly Drive between Carmelita Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard closed briefly early Thursday morning after a man attempted to start a fire inside a residential garage near Beverly Gardens Park.

Officers responded to a call at 4:30 a.m. that a man was screaming around the 1300 block of Park Way, according to BHPD spokesperson Lt. Max Subin. When police arrived, Omar Satarzadh, a 32-year-old from Pleasanton, Calif., had barricaded himself inside a garage connected to the house. Satarzadh burned a small item, and tried to start a larger fire. The fire did not spread and nothing was damaged, Subin said.

Satarzadh refused to leave the garage, but eventually the BHPD Crisis Negotiating Team convinced him to leave the garage without incident and surrender to officers. He was arrested for burglary, resisting arrest, and causing fire to an inhabited structure. Bail was set at $50,000, and he posted bond Thursday afternoon. He is due to appear at Los Angeles Superior Court in July.

Both Satarzadh’s method of entering the garage and his relationship to the homeowners, if any, are not yet known.