Local News in Brief : Armed Sylmar Man Barricaded in House With Baby Surrenders

An armed man who had shut himself in a Sylmar house with his 4-month-old daughter for nearly six hours Sunday was persuaded to surrender without violence, Los Angeles police said.

Barry Lee Bodea, 30, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Capt. William Pruitt said.

In a family dispute, Bodea threatened his wife and 12-year-old stepson at about noon with an AR-15 assault rifle, ordering them to leave him alone in the house in the 13400 block of Raven Street with the couple’s infant daughter, Pruitt said.

Bodea had not threatened to harm the baby but had told his wife he would kill himself if anyone approached the house, Pruitt said. Foothill Division officers and the police special weapons team were unable to contact Bodea by telephone, so they brought a portable telephone receiver to his door and talked to him on a loudspeaker to coax him to the phone, Pruitt said.

At 5:49 p.m., Bodea was asked by loudspeaker to step out of the house, and he did so unarmed, carrying the baby in both hands held above his head, Pruitt said. Inside the house, police found a handgun and the AR-15 rifle, he said.

Details of the dispute were unclear, but there was “some indication of jealousy involved,” Pruitt said.

The names of the wife and children were not disclosed. Pruitt said Bodea was an unemployed mechanic and laborer.