S.W.A.T. Team Called to Guis Court After Car Fire

Police called in a hostage negotiation team to a house on Guis Court Thursday afternoon after a man believed to have set his own car on fire barricaded himself there and refused to leave.

The 39-year-old man, who police would not identify because he has not been arrested, was taken away for psychiatric care at about 4:30 p.m., ending a standoff that lasted several hours and forced the closure of nearby streets.

Cosumnes Fire Department trucks first arrived at 8417 Guis Court around midday after receiving a report that a car was on fire. After putting out the fire, they went to the front door to speak with the resident, Elk Grove Police Department spokesperson Officer Chris Trim said.

"The individual was acting irrationally and he had what looked like a small torch in his possession," said Trim. When the man refused to leave the house or open the door, Trim said, the firefighters and a volunteer police officer who had come to tow the burned car called for backup.

Several patrol cars rushed to the scene, along with the hostage negotiation team, cordoned off the block and asked neighbors to remain inside.

By just after 4:00 p.m., the man was sitting on his sofa with a knife or sword between his legs and refusing to move, police reported. Several loud booms could be heard from inside the house as officers broke down the door and used non-lethal flash grenades and a Taser to subdue the man. He was taken in a squad car to a psychiatric facility.

Trim said it wasn't the first time the department had received a call about an incident at the house.

"In this type of situation, where you're uncertain of a person's mental state and don't know if there are any other weapons inside, it's much safer for officers to set up a perimeter and call for reinforcements," Trim said.

Huan and Andrew Nguyen, cousins who were hanging out in a garage on nearby Modena Way when the fire broke out, said they didn't know the man in number 8417 personally but had seen commotion at the house before.

"We saw him throw a desk out the window a couple of times," Andrew Nguyen, 23, said. "The cops were there then, too."