By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise
HEMET, Calif. — In less than 24 hours, a Hemet parolee is suspected of engaging in two shootouts with police, carjacking a homeowner and locking down a condo complex during a standoff with the SWAT team.
Riverside County sheriff’s Central Homicide detectives will recommend charges against Floyd Edward Atkerson Jr., 41, who is suspected of firing on officers in Homeland and Hemet, sheriff’s Lt. Robert Peebles said Thursday.
Atkerson was arrested late Wednesday after a nearly seven-hour standoff with dozens of law enforcement officers at the Lincoln View Townhomes in Valle Vista, east of Hemet.
It started Tuesday evening, when a California Highway Patrol officer attempted to pull Atkerson over on a traffic violation outside Perris, sheriff’s officials said. He led the officer on a chase to Homeland, where the officer said Atkerson stopped his white Chevy pickup, stepped out and fired a handgun, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The CHP officer opened fire but missed Atkerson, who ran to a nearby home and carjacked a resident, Peebles said.
The next afternoon, Hemet police spotted a vehicle matching the description of the stolen car. When they tried to pull over the driver, he opened fire on the officers, Peebles said. No officers were hit. Police returned fire and sheriff’s deputies followed the car to the condo complex, Peebles said.
Deputies surrounded the complex, where Atkerson barricaded himself. For six hours, he talked by cell phone with a county crisis negotiation team, Peebles said.
Negotiators convinced Atkerson to surrender shortly before 10 p.m. He left the condo uninjured and was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer.
Atkerson was booked at Robert Presley Detention Center without bail. The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case for possible charges.
Copyright 2010 The Press Enterprise, Inc.