LAPD standoff in the Starbucks parking lot

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve gotten in the habit of going to Starbucks every morning to work on my book before I go into the office. Since in L.A. everyone dreams of being a screenwriter, on any given morning there’s usually about half-a-dozen of us sitting there writing on our laptops.

This morning, as I was tapping away, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the cops had pulled over an SUV in the parking lot. At first it didn’t seem like it was a big deal. The Starbucks is at the corner of two major streets so someone caught speeding or running a red light might easily decide to turn into the lot to get ticketed.

But a few minutes later I glanced up again and noticed that the guy next to me was staring out the window. And when I looked where he was looking I saw that the cops were standing behind the open doors of their patrol car with their pistols out and aimed at the driver of the SUV.

“Um … do they have their guns out?”

“Yeah … I’m not sure what’s going on.”

At this point it starts to dawn on everyone in the Starbucks this this is Not a Normal Traffic Stop. Laptops are closed. Everyone starts moving away from the big plate glass windows. I’m thinking about possible sources of cover if shooting starts. A lot more cops show up and pull their guns out too. They all look very, very serious.

And then, abruptly, it’s over. The driver, an older white guy, surrenders peacefully and gets cuffed and stuffed in the back of a patrol car. The passenger, an older white woman, goes off with the police … she’s clearly the victim somehow, not a suspect. All of us in the Starbucks start speculating about what was going on … was it a carjacking, an attempted kidnapping, a domestic dispute? No one knows.

It’s weird. I’ve seen cops pull their guns a thousand times in movies and TV shows, but I realized I’ve never actually seen them do it in real life, until now. Guess I’m pretty lucky. I’m certainly a lot luckier than than the driver of the SUV who will probably get to spend Christmas (and maybe much longer) in jail.

2

The real question is whether any of the cops came into the Starbucks to get coffee after the standoff was over. I’m told that Starbucks is the new donut shop for cops.

3

As I understand it, the older white guy threw a snowball at one of the cops’ cars.

4

Not in L.A. :wink:

Perhaps the guy had an outstanding warrant?

5

There’s a 7-11 on a corner not far from our place. We can see the parking lot from both of our balconies. One night, a few months ago, three cop cars suddenly raced into the lot, and the cops all jumped out an aimed their guns at a car parked in front of the store. The cops made each occupant of the car exit, one at a time, and walk backwards with his hands on his head towards the police. They would cuff the guy, put him in a waiting car, and then do the same with the next. there were three suspects altogether.

I never found out what the cause of all this was, but i suspect they might have been trying to rob the 7-11. It was the first time i’d ever seen a cop pull and aim his weapon.

6

Indeed! The LAPD loves Starbucks as much as poor people love the 99 Cent store.

7

What intersection is the Starbucks located at? I’ll see if I can find out what the dillio was. If there is more than one Starbucks at that intersection, specify which corner using compass coordinates.

8

There is a cop who comes in for a his morning coffee sometimes, but he didn’t seem to be one of the ones making this particular arrest.

9

LOL … Olympic and Westwood. It went down around 9 am.

10

Hmmm…I only have one LAPD buddy, and he works South Central. But I’ll ask him if there’s a way to look it up.