LOS ANGELES Traffic on one Los Angeles freeway has gotten more snarled than usual as police, hazardous materials crews and firefighters try to coax a burglary suspect out of hiding in a storm drain.
Traffic on southbound Interstate 405 was halted for hours early Tuesday. Three lanes of the five-lane highway were opened at midmorning.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Gregory Baek (Bek) said oxygen was pumped into the drain for the suspect.
Police said the standoff started with an early morning burglary report at an unoccupied building next to the freeway in the North Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
One man was arrested in the building but the second ran into the storm drain.
Building owner Melvin Kaye said he suspected the burglars were after copper wire, which brings a high price in recycling centers.