Lassen man arrested after holding person at gunpoint, standoff with deputies, police say

A man suspected of holding a person at gunpoint was arrested Friday in Lassen County after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement, the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.

Deputies responded to a residence on Kei Deh Street, north of Susanville, at 1 p.m. Friday after receiving a report that a man was holding a hostage at gunpoint. The initial report said that the suspect, identified as Maitland Carpenter, was armed with a gun and knife and barricaded in a bedroom.

Deputies established a perimeter around the home, and later “multiple occupants” exited the home including the person believed to have been held at gunpoint, the Sheriff’s Office said.

With the help of other law enforcement agencies, deputies tried for hours to establish contact with Carpenter and called the phone that was in his possession.

At 6 p.m., Carpenter still refused to exit the residence so “tactical units began deploying chemical munitions into the residence,” according to the post.

Carpenter later came to the front door and deputies took him into custody at 6:15 p.m.