Standoff ends as police move in

A nearly three-hour standoff at a Costa Mesa office park ended Thursday with a woman being detained and sent to Orange County Adult Mental Health Services for psychiatric evaluation.

The woman, identified by police as a transient, barricaded herself inside an office after allegedly waving a broken bottle in a nearby hotel and threatening a police officer, police said.

The ordeal began around 8:15 a.m. when police received reports that a woman was going from room to room at the La Quinta Inn in the 1500 block of South Coast Drive, waving a glass bottle. Witnesses told police she then ran northbound on Harbor Boulevard, and continued to wave the broken bottle. When the woman was confronted by a police officer, she threatened him with the bottle and ran into an office in a complex in the 3300 block of Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa Sgt. Gary McErlain said.

People inside the office were able to get out and called police. Surrounding offices were evacuated while police hostage negotiators tried to calm the woman down and get her out of the building. Police talked with her on the office telephone, McErlain said.

A group of about six police officers stood clustered around the office doorway for more than two hours, waiting with a rubber bullet gun, Taser gun, shields and a police dog.

Several times the woman calmed down and agreed to come outside, but then she would get upset, McErlain said.

“She didn’t want to be handcuffed,” he said.

During the standoff, the woman moved back and forth between the upstairs and downstairs. Police were concerned because the office contained accessible tools, such as screwdrivers and scissors, that could be used as weapons.

“We were concerned, at that point, that maybe she had armed herself with that,” McErlain said.

Police secured the rear entrance to the office because they were told there were two cars with keys in them in the lot and they didn’t want the situation to turn into a car pursuit, McErlain said.

Just before 11 a.m., the woman came into view and started to walk toward the front door, where police were waiting. When the police dog barked, she screamed expletives at police and retreated inside the office. Police tackled her and took her into custody without the use of any weapons or the police dog, McErlain said.

Shana Sky O’Connor, 29, was not arrested for being under the influence of drugs, and Orange County Mental health will do a complete evaluation, Costa Mesa Sgt. Marty Carver said.

Jon Barton and Brian McWilliams work several units down from where the standoff took place and said they’ve seen the woman before.

“I’ve seen her probably 10 times,” McWilliams said.

The woman hangs out at a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store and frequently yells at customers coming in and out of the store, McWilliams said, noting that before the incident, the woman had walked into their office, looked around, and left. dpt.14-arrest-2-BPhotoInfoJ11SU4RL20060714j2dakpncCaption: (LA)Costa Mesa Police officers stand ready to fire a non-lethal weapon at a woman who had barricaded herself inside a Costa Mesa office building during a nearly three-hour standoff Thursday morning. Police were able to subdue her and take her into custody without the use of any weapons. dpt.14-arrest-1-CPhotoInfoJ11SU51U20060714j2dak1ncCredit: KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT