The hours-long standoff that sent SWAT officers searching through an apartment’s attic on Wednesday was sparked by an 18-year-old man who’d tried to sexually abuse a minor, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

Police said the situation began around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 in an apartment building on Newport Avenue near Seventh Street.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that a known male adult suspect entered a residence with a female teen victim,” police said. “Officers safely got the victim out of the residence. Officers established a perimeter and attempted to de-escalate the situation.”

Officers evacuated apartments and called in SWAT resources to try to corner the suspect, who was reportedly moving around in an attic crawlspace that connected multiple apartments.

An apartment building surrounded by police on Newport Avenue near Seventh Street. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

After a few hours, SWAT officers were able to arrest the man. Police said he was booked on suspicion of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex crime, burglary, vandalism, resisting a peace officer and being a fugitive from justice.

His bail was set at $50,000, according to police, who said the investigation is ongoing.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.