Photo: Patrick Miller
COVINA – When Covina Police attempted service of a $100,000 Covina PD arrest warrant to Patrick Miller, of Covina – no cooperation occurred. The wanted man was to be served the warrant related to a vehicular manslaughter investigation which stemmed from a fatal DUI-related traffic collision at Gran and Covina.
Officers knocked on the door in the 100 block of North Forestdale at approximately 3:19 PM on June 1st. While Miller acknowledged the police presence, he also indicated that he was not about to surrender.
The subject of prior calls for service, known to possess firearms, was verbally uncooperative, stating that he wouldn’t come out.
As a result, the home was contained, while several residences were evacuated. “Officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, and used less-lethal devices in repeated attempts to convince Miller to surrender,” said Covina PD.
Barricaded in the garage, he was observed holding a knife, and what resembled a handgun, while smoking from a glass pipe, and lighting fireworks. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Crisis Negotiation Team gave an assist to Covina PD’s Special Response Team – communicating for hours with the suspect.
Once he ended negotiations and refused to surrender, “A variety of less lethal devices including chemical munitions were deployed over many hours and were unsuccessful in securing Miller’s cooperation.” Throughout, numerous gunshots from the house were heard, appearing to be directed at officers.
A request for additional assistance brought in the L. A. County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) – who provided additional resources and relieved Covina PD’s Special Response Team.
Several additional hours of attempts to gain compliance, with deployment of additional chemical munitions, were ultimately successful.
Nearly 16 hours after the onset of the standoff, Miller appeared, suffering an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital for his injuries.
Investigators located a firearm and ammunition at the scene.
