Crime & Safety
Man Barricades Himself, Starts Fire
Michael Ochoa, 39, is taken into custody Sunday evening after threatening to blow up his house, barricading himself in burning backyard shed with woman inside.
—By Bay City News Service
A man was arrested after threatening to blow up his home and then barricading himself in a backyard shed and setting it on fire in San Jose on Sunday night, a police spokesman said.
The incident began at 11:18 p.m. when officers responded to a report of a man standing in front of his home on Regan Street holding containers of gas and threatening to blow up the house, San Jose police spokesman Officer Albert Morales said.
Police learned that the suspect, 39-year-old Michael Ochoa, was wanted on a felony no-bail arrest warrant and had a history of resisting and evading officers, Morales said.
Officers set up a perimeter in the area and searched the house, but did not find the suspect.
They then heard movement in the backyard and saw what appeared to be two people inside a shed, according to Morales.
A fire was then set in the shed and a woman was pushed out, Morales said. She was taken to safety.
He said the woman was not being held hostage by Ochoa and was there on her own free will.
Ochoa then said he had a gun and threatened to shoot himself and the officers, and refused to cooperate with crisis intervention experts.
"He periodically would open and shut the door, basically taunting the officers," Morales said.
The fire eventually spread through the shed and forced Ochoa to exit.
He tried to run away and jump over a fence but was taken into custody after officers used a Taser and K-9 unit to subdue him, Morales said.
Fire crews then came in and safely put out the fire, he said.
Ochoa was arrested for arson, resisting arrest and making criminal threats, and for the outstanding warrant and a parole violation, police said.
He was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries before being booked into Santa Clara County Jail.
Copyright © 2014 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
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