Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

DUARTE – A man surrendered and was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly vandalized the exterior of some stores at a strip mall and climbed to the roof.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters worked to ensure no one was hurt after the suspect scaled the outside of the 99 Cents Only Store, 1327 E. Huntington Dr. The suspect attempted to enter through a roof hatch as a Sheriff’s helicopter watched. The man armed himself with a pipe and threw objects onto the walkway below, according to Sheriff’s radio traffic.

The incident unfolded around 2:30 p.m. November 26.

When deputies arrived, the man was found behind the strip mall. The man eventually climbed up on some dumpsters and pipes to scale the building, according to Lt. Liu of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station.

The 99 Cents Only Store was evacuated as a precaution, Liu told SGV CityWatch.

The man vandalized the roof during the incident, but ultimately no one was injured, Lieu told SGV CityWatch.

“The suspect has some mental issues and history of drug use. Ultimately deputies were able to convince him to come down from the roof,” Liu told SGV CityWatch.

It was about two hours before the man came down from the roof. Deputies said the man has had prior contacts with them in Duarte, Liu told SGV CityWatch.

The man was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and taken to a Downtown Los Angeles jail for a mental evaluation, Liu told SGV CityWatch.

DUARTE - A man was hospitalized and was put under mental observation August 18 after vandalizing his home.

Deputies arrived to a home in the 1900 block of Huntington Drive just after 6:30 p.m. and found the naked, bloody man. The man was destroying personal property by throwing it out the window and he received  numerous lacerations from broken glass, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station.

“After further investigation, it was determined the male was under the influence of a controlled substance,” deputies said.