Local News in Brief : Shooting Suspect Gives Up After 4-Hour Siege

After shooting a business partner in the leg in Simi Valley, a Van Nuys man barricaded himself Tuesday in his house and held his girlfriend hostage for four hours before surrendering, authorities said.

The man, Slav Arsov, 37, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and kidnaping, Simi Valley Police Sgt. Tony Harper said. The woman hostage, Jill Pitsch, 22, of Burbank was released unharmed, Harper said.

Arsov, a Bulgarian, forced Pitsch at about 3 p.m. to accompany him to a Simi Valley check-cashing business he owns, Harper said. Once there, Arsov argued with his partner, Vladimir Zlatkov, and shot Zlatkov once in the leg with a .32-caliber pistol, Harper said. He took $5,000 in cash from the business and forced Pitsch at gunpoint to leave with him, the police spokesman said.

Zlatkov called Simi Valley police, who found Arsov at his home on Wyandotte Avenue in Van Nuys, Harper said. Arsov fired into the ceiling, but, after lengthy discussions by telephone with police, walked out with his hands up about 7 p.m., Harper said.

Zlatkov was reported in stable condition at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound in the thigh.