Girlfriend of Man Involved in Armed Police Standoff Calls Tear Gas Use 'Overkill'

Just getting within a few feet of the home on Shady Oaks Drive where an armed standoff took place brought neighbors to tears Monday morning.

Police fired more than a dozen tear gas canisters into the house where a man wielding a samurai sword scared off his girlfriend Sunday night before barricading himself in the home with a gun. Daniel Simpson, 36, finally came out Monday morning when the tear gas came in, and police arrested him.

Wendy Haun, Simpson's girlfriend, was cleaning up the mess Monday afternoon, and she was upset that nearly every window of her home was broken by tear gas canisters. The gas was so overpowering that she could still not get inside her home hours after police removed the canisters.

"I really don't agree with the way they handled it," she said.

The incident began when Haun's friend became alarmed by Simpson's behavior. He was acting erratically while intoxicated and started stalking around the house with a sword Sunday night, she said.

"My girlfriend that was here was scared because he was angry and he had a samurai sword out," Haun said.

Simpson was not mad at either of the two women, Haun said, but her friend insisted they leave when the man went upstairs, which is where Haun keeps several guns.

Police were called, and Simpson refused to comply with their demands to exit the home, Haun said.

"He wasn't going to come out because this was his house and he said he wasn't doing anything wrong," Haun said.

Eventually a SWAT team was called in, as well as a police helicopter, a negotiator, a psychologist from Los Angeles County Hospital, and the Foothill Special Enforcement Team (F-SET), which includes units from Monrovia, San Marino, Glendora and Irwindale.

The standoff lasted from about 7:55 p.m. Sunday to just before 7 a.m. Monday before tear gas was used. Simpson was arrested and placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.

Haun said she wanted police to go inside the house to get Simpson but acknowledged that they were being cautious because weapons were involved.

"Because I own guns and because he was in the house and had that other weapon, they didn't know what to expect," Haun said.

In a press release put out by the city Monday, police said that Simpson threatened to commit suicide if police came in.

"Simpson continued to refuse to comply with the officers’ instructions and made statements that indicated he would take his own life if officers attempted to arrest him," the written statement reads.

Resident Virginia Villegas posted a message on Patch saying that Simpson was making a scene in the neighborhood on Sunday.

"My husband and I took a stroll around the area and were appalled to hear him yelling obscenities at anyone near his sidewalk!," Villegas wrote. "I hope he was arrested after his latest antic!"

Haun believed police could have arrested Simpson when he passed out late Monday night and described the use of tear gas as "overkill."

Haun's neighbors were on hand to help her clean up Monday, but they couldn't go near the home for very long before they were forced to wash out their eyes with a hose in the front yard.

Terry Brodek, 23, said he briefly went inside the home to open some windows but had to get out quickly.

"I lasted for a couple seconds and then my skin started burning," Brodek said.